Five, As Agreed Upon
by ficlit78
Summary: Set in You Smell Like Dinner, Sookie and Eric's little argument ends differently, with both of them coming to an agreement about Sookie getting her house back. Namely, an exchange. M, because cussin' and sexin' will occur. *WINNER* of the 2013 Fangreaders' Dr. Ludwig Award for Best Novella Fanfic.
1. Anger

**A/N: **While still hip-deep in writing Pretty Kitty, I decided I could NOT let the most recent ep, You Smell Like Dinner, go unaddressed. Namely, the scene between Sookie and Eric as she runs through her house trying to escape his advances. It was freakin' brilliant. This is my version of what should have happened, played out in five chapters.

**Anger**

Humiliation burned deep as Sookie ran down her stairs, tightening her thin blue robe around her waist and seething in rage as she felt his amused, unhurried pace behind her. God damn him. She knew it was stupid to run. Where could she go? The kitchen? The porch? Her car? Where could she hide that he couldn't easily follow? Her naked body blushed deep under the pathetic material. The fact that he'd just seen it all made her wish her entire house was shellacked with silver. Bastard.

"Stay away from me," she snipped over her shoulder as she came to the landing.

"This is no way to treat your new landlord," he replied lazily, flashing from behind her, barricading her path in a blink.

Sookie skittered to a halt and stared up at Eric with barely-concealed rage. "I am not yours and I want you out of my house. Now!"

Dry mirth tugged the corners of his mouth. "Funny about ownership, isn't it? A little piece of paper, and the only power you had over me is gone."

She scowled at him. "What do you want from me?"

His smile disappeared, replaced by a very serious hunger. "Everything."

Oh, Jesus Christ. "You can't have it."

"I _bought_ it," he countered, as if that settled everything.

"You bought my house," Sookie said, amazed that she needed to explain the difference. "The house does not come with me inside it."

He settled back into his smile. "Well, then I seriously overpaid."

"That's _your_ problem," she informed him, edging around him and heading for the kitchen.

With nowhere to go, she was brought up short when he called to her. Her blood tasted like freedom, he said. Like sunshine. Like all lovely things that vampires missed from their human lives. It was what made her smell so good to them. And unfortunately, others would eventually find out.

"And when they do," he concluded, "you'll need protection. I can provide that for you."

"I'm willing to take my chances," she answered, turning away and meaning every damn word. How dare he show up, looking up her skirts while professing a higher, noble purpose. Did he think she was stupid? She'd barely made it three steps when he flashed again, blocking her path anew with his dark, towering frame.

"I bought this house because I care about you."

This stopped her. Looking up into his eyes, Sookie paused mid-stride, uncertainty slowing her step. Cared about her? Since when? What happened to not giving a damn about her? He'd been very clear back at Russell's mansion that she meant absolutely nothing to him. She was just a lowly inferior, possibly valuable, but in no way worthy of special attention.

He continued. "If all I wanted was to taste your blood, I could do it right now and there wouldn't be a thing you could do to stop me."

Sookie's mouth turned up in distaste.

Eric's expression went noticeably softer, as did his voice. "Instead," he said, "I am asking you...to be mine."

She snorted. Asking, right. Unless she said no. She seriously doubted her consent played much of a role in his restraint if she refused him. Again, did he think she was an idiot?

"I could never be with you the way I was with Bill," she said hotly, turning away from his pretty face and impressive body as he stood stone-still in her entryway. She didn't want to look at him. Looking at him always filled her with conflicting emotions that she wanted to ignore.

But she couldn't escape his voice. "The first time Bill declared you his, how did that make you feel?"

Sookie turned and considered. "Angry," she answered softly.

His brow quirked. "But safe?"

Sookie's eyes lowered. She didn't answer this time. Yes, she'd felt safe. Bill's first declaration to owning her had pissed her off to no end. At the same time, she'd been in a room full as freak-ass vampires, slithering around her, sniffing at her heels and making all kinds of lewd comments about her sweet scent. She'd seen several flashes of fang as they sniffed out her virginity and made her stomach turn. Only Bill's dog-like bark, claiming her like a bone, had made them grudgingly back down. She'd hated it, but she'd hidden behind it fast enough.

Sighing tiredly, she sat at the breakfast table, arranging her robe so that it covered as much of her legs as possible. Without looking up, she murmured, "So that's why you're here? To offer me a trade? I whore myself to you in exchange for my safety?"

Eric's quirk quickly turned to a snarl. "Is that how you see it?"

"That's how you're selling it."

"Was it whoring when you allowed Bill to claim you?"

She looked up at that. "I had no idea what a claim meant then. And Bill was gentlemanly enough not to touch me until I wanted him to."

Eric stalked towards her and squatted by her chair. His fingers found her chin, holding it carefully. He held her gaze firmly. "Would you agree to be mine if I agreed to the same?"

Sookie didn't like the touch, but didn't pull away either. "Agree to what, Eric? _Eventually_ whoring myself to you, once I'm comfortable with the idea?"

"Stop using that word," he growled.

"Then stop trying to buy me," she countered hotly. "Stop bartering. Stop trying to scare me by reminding me that other vamps will bleed me dry. If you cared for me at all, you'd offer your protection without a claim to me." She paused, participating in his stare-down. "Or you'd give me my house back, at the very least."

His growl quieted. Sookie noticed that his fingers had started moving fractionally along her jaw, almost a caress, but not quite. Otherwise, he was still in the way only vampires can manage. She held her breath, waiting for his response.

At length, he spoke. "Giving you your house back would do nothing to protect you long term."

"Bullshit," she replied. "You owning this house will get me killed quicker than anything. Sure, you can walk in whenever you want and I can't stop you, but it also means _any_ other vampire can do the same."

Eric flinched. The movement, so unlike him, made Sookie flinch as well. He was so close, such an unexpected break in his nerve was jarring. There was hesitation in his eyes. Sookie's gaze widened, then riveted to his, not letting him look away.

"You hadn't thought of that," she mused out loud, astounded. God, was that possible? The great Eric Northman had wanted her so badly that he hadn't remembered the simple rule that any vampire-owned home was open to vampire entry? Surely not, Sookie thought. The man thought of everything. There was no detail too small that Eric didn't detect, consider and file away for later. His interest in her be damned. His concentration was unflappable.

His eyes lowered further.

Hers went wider in shock.

It was true.

It hadn't occurred to him.

"Jeez, Eric," she breathed softly, sitting up more, taking her penetrating eyes with her.

"No one knows I own this house." His voice was icy and strong. Defensive. He gathered himself and looked up, completely unapologetic.

Sookie snorted. "Others _will_ find out," she taunted him with his own words. "When they do, I'll end up just another red stain on this lovely floor you had waxed for me."

Eric hissed quietly, his blunt teeth flashing brightly at her. Sookie smiled softly, showing no teeth at all. "Don't you snarl at me like some pissed-off stray. You're the one who made it possible."

He threw himself backwards, prowling darkly around her kitchen, his previous mood of smug certainty gone. Sookie watched his slightly bent form as he moved around a space that was too small for him. "If I hadn't bought this place, some family of strangers would be living here at this very moment, all of your family possessions locked up in some shitty storage facility in Monroe." He turned and scowled at her. "Is that your preference?"

"Of course not," she snipped right back, resisting the urge to jump up and get right in his face. "My preference is to buy it back."

"You've been gone for a year. Have your finances changed greatly in that time?"

"Don't be a dick, Eric. I'll pay you back, every penny. But I have to do it in installments."

A cold smile tugged at his lips. "I don't want money."

Sookie grit her teeth. "Are we back to sex again? Jesus, Eric. Is that how little you think of me? Why would I fuck you for my house if I won't fuck you for protecting my life?"

His smile dropped, but his arrogant expression didn't. "When you finally agree to fuck me, it won't be as payment for anything."

Sookie bit down harder. "Fine. Moving right along. What about working for you at Fangtasia?"

"I don't need another waitress."

"All right. What about as a telepath? You used to find that valuable. You can keep me on retainer."

Eric snorted. "No."

Sookie threw her hands up in exasperation and got up from her chair. "Well, then we're out of options." She gestured towards the door. "You should go. I'm tired and I'm going to bed." She turned back towards the stairs, flicking her hand in disgust. "Feel free to sneak back in while I'm sleeping and rummage through all my private things. God knows you'll do whatever-the-hell you want anyway."

She heard a zip and suddenly her stairwell was blocked by cotton-clad muscle. Without looking up, she punched angrily into it.

"God, what? _What_? _What the fuck do you want_?"

Two hands grabbed her fists and plastered them to that wall before gripping her chin and jerking it upwards. Her dark eyes met two light ones, haughty, but more thoughtful than she'd expected. She huffed, more furious than she'd ever felt in her life.

He leaned down into her space. "There's one more thing you can offer me."

The soft scrape of his voice made her go still. She hated its calming effect on her. She didn't want to be calm. She wanted to hit him again.

"Oh, _do_ tell," she spat acidly. "What can a backwater waitress offer a cold-hearted millionaire except a pathetic mortgage or sex?"

Eric's eyes softened. Her words had hurt him. Sookie refused to soften in return. She'd been too soft too often for too many people and look where it had gotten her. Her hands were still trapped over his t-shirt. She stared at them resentfully, letting the word 'sex' echo uncomfortably between them.

Finally, he spoke. "You can feed me," he said.

Sookie bit her lip and tried to step away. Eric refused to let her hands or chin escape from under his fingers, tugging her even closer. Through his touch, Sookie could feel a restrained gentleness in him that only fueled her lust for violence. Why did he have to play these fucking games? Why did he back her into a corner, then ask for her surrender instead of just taking his victory? She huffed, keeping her eyes averted, even though he aimed her face squarely at his own. God, she hated him. Hated him. He made her feel so cheap and helpless. And desperate. And wanted. And special. And so totally overwhelmed that she had a hard time thinking clearly.

He said he cared for her. He wasn't attacking her, like he so easily could. He seemed to need her acceptance. She was sure that if she looked up into his eyes right now, she'd see that need.

She huffed again and jerked her chin hard, dislodging his hold on her. She lowered her gaze to their feet. She let her hands rest where they were against him.

"Blood whoring instead of sex whoring, then?" she said finally.

A motoring growl erupted under her hands in warning. "I said stop using that word."

"But that's what they're called, right?" She looked up now, wanting honesty. "Blood whores? I saw them in Dallas. Wads of twenties in their Fendi purses and bite marks all over their bodies."

His growl persisted. "Did you ever consider that they enjoy it? That _you_ might enjoy it?"

"Don't you fuckin' dare," Sookie tried to pull away again. Again, she was unsuccessful. "There are plenty of things I enjoy. I like dancing. I like kissing. I like making love. Doesn't mean I'd do any of them for _money_."

Eric's stony expression went dangerously predatory at her list. Sookie refused to blush. There was something about Eric's insufferability, something that made her want to say scandalous things, just to provoke him. Make him drop his business-like attitude and just _admit_ what he really wanted. If it was just blood and sex, he could take them. If it was the pleasure of upstaging Bill, Edgington and Sophie Anne by owning her, he could just threaten to kill off her family and friends until she agreed. But the way he kept wording it, like he was doing her a favor by looking out for her or that she might grow to like the arrangement, just made her tongue itch to say every cruel, unchristian accusation she could think of.

Eric loomed before her, close enough to make her crane all the way back and consider taking a step away.

His free hand hovered for a moment, then gently slipped into her wet hair at her temple, following the tress as it led behind her ear and finally to her throat.

"Please."

Sookie started at his whisper.

"What?"

He was watching his fingers as they ghosted over her pulse. "Please, Sookie. In exchange for letting me taste you again, I'll sign the deed to your house over to you tomorrow."

She answered without thinking. "No."

He continued to trace her. His face reminded her of an entranced, lovesick poet.

"I...I won't let you. I can't."

"Why?" His voice had gone maddening rough-soft again.

"I don't want to."

"You've let me before."

"That was different. You were dying."

He caught her eyes again. "How can someone so kind be so stubborn?"

Slow, distressing tentacles of panic were working their way into Sookie's brain. Her anger was eroding. Desperate, she clutched it harder. Damn this fucking bastard. He'd changed tactics, using his height and his stupid, pretty eyes and his rare tenderness to find another path to her concession. She loathed how sincere it sounded. Like she was the most precious thing in the world and he only wanted a piece of her so he could cherish it, like a lock of her hair...or a mouthful of her blood.

She bit her lip again.

Blood.

It was only blood.

She looked to her left and right. Her family's home - the home that had been theirs for hundreds of years - was clean and beautiful again. Eric had been kind to it. He'd even paid Jason twice what it was worth before he'd renovated it, giving Jason some much-needed cash to fix his own house. Now, Eric was making another ridiculously generous offer. One that cost her nothing...except her principles. And might end with her dead on the floor, as she'd predicted with other vampires who would lose control and eat her alive.

And yet.

Bill had managed not to. Edgington and Eric hadn't killed her, either. He cared for her. Enough to let her yell at him. Enough to ask. Enough to walk away, if she demanded hard enough.

Once again, her mouth spoke without her. "Once."

Eric blinked. Negotiation. "Indefinitely."

Sookie took a shaky breath. "Twice."

Eric's hand cupped her nape and drew her up, lowering his face to hers in a perfect mimic of a lover about to kiss her. "Twenty."

Sookie swallowed. He was so close. So safe and so risky. The house could be hers again. She could deny him entry again. All of them. "Five. Final offer."

He released her hand on his chest and completed his cup around her throat and jaw. She felt his thumbs brush her earlobes. The pulse of her payment throbbed steadily under his palms. She knew he could feel it. She knew it was singing to him even now.

"Freedom," she pushed quietly. "Sunshine in a pretty blonde bottle. Five times, for an old house in the middle of nowhere. Take it or leave it."

His thumbs moved slightly, sweeping up and down along her cheekbones. He blinked again. Sookie wondered vaguely if vampires even needed to blink, or if it was just another human habit that died hard. The coolness of his hands was sapping the warmth she'd felt in her shower. Once again, she found herself wishing she could steal into a vampire's mind and read his thoughts like she could everyone else.

Meanwhile, an eternity passed between them.

"Five," he said finally. "With two conditions. You will not rescind my invitation. Before, during or after our exchange is complete." His face was a mask. "I'll settle for your word."

Sookie's jaw clenched. _He cares_, she chanted silently. _He cares enough to protect me_. "You're welcome in my home," she answered stiffly. "Always. You have my word."

He nodded, stoic but pleased.

"And the second?" Sookie asked.

His thumbs trespassed over her lips, grazing their plumpness. Sookie bit them inward, denying him.

"You will take my blood again."

"No." Sookie's word dropped flatly between them.

"I don't care when," he continued. "Or how. You may drink it from a vial, if you prefer. But my connection to you was weak from the beginning. In a year, it's grown even weaker. I'll return your home to you, but I demand that I be able to track you better."

"It's all for my benefit, huh? You offering to come save me? I suppose that sensing my emotions and making me dream about you _again_ is totally beside the point?"

Eric smiled softly. God, she was amusing. He could rip her head off with the gentlest tug. It would be so simple. He'd done it many times before. Yet he couldn't recall a single instance where the human in his grip looked up fearlessly into his eyes and sassed him from the trap of his hands. It gave him a momentary light heart.

"Again, Sookie. Is my offer not better than Bill's? More honest? You asked once if I would know when you were in trouble before you left for Jackson." He paused and let her remember. "Did you appreciate our connection then?"

Sookie snorted and looked away. "A silver lining to a very dark cloud, Eric. Don't push your luck."

"A few drops more," he replied soothingly. "Five times. Two conditions. The house is yours."

They stared awhile, letting the counter-offer sit on the table. Slowly, Sookie's hands rose and hooked his, pulling them away from her face. A piece of golden hair escaped from behind her ear as she turned away and walked back into the kitchen. Eric didn't follow, sensing that she needed space to think. He watched as she calmly pulled a glass from the cupboard, setting it on the countertop, before she reached to the butcher block and pulled a knife loose.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"You've got yourself a deal."

It happened before he could react.

Her sleeve was pulled back. Her arm positioned. Sookie gasped, pain flaring up in their meager bond, as she sliced deep into her forearm, angling the limb over the glass as the thick drip of blood dotted the counter before filling its target. The scent of everything bright and beautiful rushed into the air. Eric's fangs clicked. Sookie heard them just before she heard the telltale rush of air. Eric was suddenly behind her, clutching her waist and yanking her two inches until her back was flush against his chest. The movement wasn't enough to upset the flow, which continued to drip into the glass in front of them.

"What the fuck are you doing?" he hissed above her, his other arm snaking around her shoulders, holding her to him as she made good on her first installment.

Sookie was trembling, taking the pain and blinking to keep the tears back as she watched. "Paying you," she whispered in a strained voice. "This will hold about a cup's worth."

"No!"

Sookie cried out as she was jerked around, her injured arm leaking all over the floor as Eric turned her into him. He yanked her close.

"You'd rather mutilate yourself than let me bite you?" His accusation was filled with anger and bitterness.

Sookie sniffed. Damn, that cut hurt. "I want to keep it simple," she replied, still blinking profusely to keep the tears back. The result made her eyes look like huge liquid pools of warmth and sadness. Eric snarled, hating the way they made him want to hold her and pet her and whisper to her until he soothed all her fears away. It was pathetic.

He jerked her arm up, heedless of her cry of discomfort, and stifling his appetite, began licking the blood away, cleaning the wound with his antiseptic mouth. Sookie made to pull away.

"Be still," he hissed, furious that she ruined this for him. He forced himself to swallow without savoring the incandescent flavor of her, shoving it down his throat, clearing a path to the cut. Once there, he sliced his tongue on his fangs and applied his healing blood to her, working his way up the injury and making sure her skin mended back together fully.

Sookie watched with those fucking doe-like eyes. Still working, Eric fused his icy blue fury into them, letting her know with no words that he was livid with her little stunt. She seemed so small, so fragile. She wasn't moving. She watched as a vampire drank her blood with no pleasure, seeming more concerned with her safety and more angry at her rashness.

Her arm was smeared with a little blood, but was no longer hurt. Sookie watched in amazement as Eric left the blood on her skin and brusquely pulled the sleeve of her robe back down. It had blood on it, too. Eric didn't see it. Instead, he took Sookie by the shoulders and shook her. It wasn't painful. It wasn't gentle, either.

"My first payment, is it?" he snarled as he dipped low, right into her face. "Watching you suffer? Being denied the chance to enjoy you? Knowing you choose pain over me?" The acid in his voice dripped and joined her blood on the floor tiles.

Sookie looked up, appalled. "I've seen you drink from a glass," she defended. "What's the difference?" She spun and grabbed the glass from the counter. The inch of blood jostled slightly as she brought it under his nose. "Drink it. Tell me it still doesn't taste as good as you remember. Why the fuck should it matter how you get it? You've got it, it's yours." She shook it at him, tempting him.

"There's a _difference_!" he roared, pulling his head back from the dizzying scent. It was making him unstable. Bad things happened when a creature as powerful as him became unstable.

Sookie didn't heed the dangerous glint in his eye. Once again, she wanted to push. Shove, actually. She dipped her finger in the glass. Eric groaned in rage as she slipped the bloodied digit through his lips and onto his tongue. The barriers he'd made to keep her taste from registering were blown apart. A sweetness he would remember for the rest of his life filled his head. The rest of Sookie's fingers cupped around his chin and jaw, holding his face as she spoon-fed him.

"See?" she retorted angrily, watching as his eyes slipped closed in bliss and he pitched forward, catching himself with both arms on the counter, trapping her against it. "Freedom and sunshine. All you have to let me do is fill the cup and settle my first debt."

Eric's eyes snapped open. Indignation sparked hotly, turning the blue ice into butane fire. Still sucking her now-clean finger, he reached between them and snatched the glass. Sookie shrieked as he hurled it across the room, jumping as it shattered into diamond chips, spattering her wall with blood. He ignored her jolt and hauled her up against him, pulling her finger deep into his mouth, his eyes closing once again. Sookie gasped. His tongue was working overtime, laving her skin with soft, wet sex that had her arching against her will, her breasts pressing wantonly into his upper abdomen. His fangs framed around her knuckle. He did not bite down and prick her skin for more blood.

"Eric." Her voice was much softer, more questioning and feminine that she'd meant it to sound.

His mouth slid over her palm, down her healed forearm. He inhaled over and over, drinking in the scent of her, but never lapping the drying blood as he moved. Instead, to Sookie's astonishment, he started kissing. Dozens of them. Frenzied and fast and over the entire length of her lower arm and hand. He was lost.

"Ssssookie," he moaned softly, butting is forehead into her wrist. "So sweet...missed how fucking sweet you are..."

Sookie glanced at her wall. Her blood - the blood all vampires dreamed about - dripped forgotten down the paneling.

"Eric," she repeated again.

He ignored her, continuing to rub his nose and lips over her skin.

She pulled out of his grasp and cupped his cheeks, shaking him out of his stupor. "Eric!"

His eyes cleared rapidly and he stared at her, the tiniest smudge of blood clinging to his lips. She thumbed over it. His tongue swiped out to claim the drop as she did.

They stared, incredulous.

A strange, content-sounding rumble emitted from his throat. Sookie noticed how entangled they'd become. His arms held firmly around her back as she clutched his face. There was absolutely zero space between them. She was sandwiched between his lean monolith and the counter. Their faces were inches apart.

For enemies-turned-indifferents-turned-business partners, it was definitely an unusual position.

Slowly and - to her consternation - a little unwillingly, Sookie let her hands fall away from him.

Eric, with the same amount of dislike, loosened his hold as well.

Neither spoke for a moment. Sookie, feeling embarrassed and wanting to put some distance between them, moved to sidestep him. She yelped when his arms shot out again and slammed into the counter on either side of her. Trapped, she looked up. Angry Eric had resurfaced.

"You will not refuse me again," he spoke low and gravelly. "When I take your blood again, my fangs will be buried in your throat."

White, slithering, completely unwelcome heat pulsed through Sookie at his words. They were so visceral. So sexual. And there was no arguing with them. She swallowed and did anyway. "I didn't agree to that," she said. "We didn't specify _how_ I'd feed you."

"I'm fucking specifying now," he rasped, his lips pulling back in anger. "I drink from you directly, or the deal's off."

Sookie shivered. Cold? Fear? Excitement? She shook her head at the last one. "This one still counts."

He didn't back off. "Fine," he rasped. "This was the first. But tomorrow night when I come for the second, you'll give it to me willingly." He moved closer. For a split second, she was sure he was going to kiss her again. Instead, his gaze dropped to her lips, but he only spoke. "No theatrics."

Another flash, another gust of air, and suddenly Sookie was alone in her kitchen.

Still trembling, still awash with so many emotions that she didn't know which ones to focus on, she turned off the lights and went to bed.

It was going to be a long night.


	2. Anxiety

**A/N:** OMG, are you freakin' kidding me? Over 100 reviews for the first chapter? But...I don't...you guys...that's so...wow. Wowee wow wow. All I can say is that I love you guys so much for all of your awesome thoughts. I'm totally gobsmacked. And I'm so sorry for not answering all of them. This STUPID site stopped emailing me alerts of any kind, so I didn't even see them for a day or two. But know that I love you. Onto chap two.

**P.S.** Sorry for the delay! Just had myself a new baby! He's awesome and we love him, but he doesn't yet share our fanatical love of HBO supe smut, so forgive the delay with this story and Kitty. I'll get back on them asap.

**Anxiety**

Keeping the plastic cone steady, Sookie was lost in concentration, pouring the massive bag of salt through the cone and into the tiny shakers. Over the years, she'd become a surgeon at this. There was a certain trick to handling the bag, fitting and moving the cone to twenty shakers in a four-by-five square, topping them at the perfect height, and spilling less than three grains in three minutes. She'd honed her timing and her accuracy, and was currently working on breaking two minutes, forty-five seconds. Everyone had their own personal Olympic bests. At Merlotte's, she had several she was trying to beat, most of them having to do with refills.

Today however, this personal training kept her from thinking about tonight. After scrubbing her kitchen wall of dried fairy blood and furtively taking an iron supplement with breakfast, she'd pointedly embargoed all thoughts about what was going to happen when she got off work at eight. She wasn't thinking about the dark drive home. She wasn't thinking about who might be waiting for her when she walked through the front door. She wasn't thinking about the little thrill of expectation at the idea of someone in her house, waiting for her, wanting her, grabbing her and growling softly the minute she stepped over the threshold. She wasn't comparing that to the spark of a new relationship, the kind where the girl comes home to a man who's been planning all day to rip her clothes off and take her right there against the front door, because it had been five whole hours and he couldn't stand another minute of not fucking her silly.

Optimum salt height on shaker number fifteen came and went, choking around the cone's neck and spilling a totally unacceptable half a teaspoon on the counter.

"Dammit," she whispered softly, quickly moving the whole operation to shaker sixteen. But the whole salt-pouring drill was a bust. More than three grains lost was an automatic disqualification.

Her pretense broken, she was forced to deal with the thoughts that were responsible for her lapse.

Eric.

Stupid freakin' jerk asshole dead bastard Eric.

Everything was his fault.

Her distraction. Her nerves. Her tension. Her anger. Her disbelief that tonight and three other nights after were actually going to happen. All of it. His damn fault. What the hell was his problem, anyway? Why did he have to make this already-humiliating exchange so personal? Why did it matter if he took her blood directly, or just received it via FedEx in a nice decanter that she could fill up and send over to Fangtasia? He wouldn't even have to leave work, he could just sip his Bloody Mary/Sookie while sitting at his stupid throne, looking over his adoring human hoard and basking in their breathless, fawning bullshit. She didn't even need to be in the same city to fulfill their deal.

Shaker twenty finished. Time: three minutes, nine seconds. Pathetic.

Sookie set about screwing on their tops. Up next were the pepper shakers. Infinitely more tricky. Pepper was more misshapen and had more traction. It was an unpredictable pour. Her timing was all over the place.

Twenty empty shakers graced her next tray as she get up with the new bag. "We meet again," she acknowledged her ground-up foe as she started her ritual all over again.

_But no-ooooh-oooo._

Eric had to go and fix her precious house. He had to go and buy her beautiful, Amish-style wardrobes that were actually stairwells to unwanted vampire grottoes (with a bed big enough for two, of course). He had to want more than she was offering. He had to scare her. He had to praise her with honesty while leering carnally. He had to make everything so hard when it could be simple. He had to push.

"Sonofabitch," she muttered under her breath as pepper shaker eight met its quota.

"Miss Sookie Stackhouse?"

Sookie startled at the voice, looking up from her tray and slightly overfilling number eight. _Dammit! _

"Yes?" she answered automatically.

A man in a blue and gray uniform stood next to the bar where she was completing her prep. He held a thin envelope and an electronic pad in his hand. His ballcap had a pelican on it, and fell over a messy thatch of brown hair. He waited until the set she bag down. Dusting her hands, she reached for the envelope he was holding out to her.

"What's this?" she asked, taking it and scanning her name and Merlotte's address.

The man shrugged. "Pelican couriers," he identified himself, not really heeding her question. "Sign here, please." He held out the pad.

She took the wand and made a butchered copy of her name on the screen. He took it back and stepped back quickly. "Nice day," he said by way of goodbye, and headed out the door.

Ripping open the back, Sookie fingered inside and pulled out a heavy piece of official card stock. It was certified and stamped. A property deed of ownership. Her breath caught in her throat as she scanned her home's familiar address...right next to her name. Sole owner, Sookie Stackhouse.

A piece of white paper was paper-clipped to the corner.

_Sookie,_

_As promised, your home restored to you. You were right. I was remiss not to think of your protection. Always know, your safety is paramount to me. _

_I look forward to tonight._

_~Eric_

She expelled an exasperated breath. See? That shit right there. Why did he have to go and say stuff like that? What was wrong with just sending the deed? She only needed the paperwork, she didn't need to know that he felt guilty about exposing her to vampire attacks, or that he worried about her, or that he was thinking about tonight just like she was. This could be so straight-forward. Like a tax return, or the arrangements she'd made when Gran had passed. Those things weren't pleasant, but at least she didn't have to invest anything personal in them. Now, a man was coming over tonight, intent on invading her personal space, touching her, drinking her, marking her up.

And she was going to invite him in and let it happen. She closed her eyes and willed her anxiety away.

_"Missed how fucking sweet you are."_

She flinched.

_Kisses instead of bites. Unwanted blood on her wall. A desperately wanted single drop on her finger. Blue eyes going blind and slipping closed, euphoric. Cool hands. Scratchy, angry voice. _

Shivering, Sookie picked up the bag of pepper and continued where she'd left off. Eight o'clock loomed before her, tall as her sphinxlike date.

E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S

It didn't happen quite as her illicit imagination had pictured.

As she got out of her car and walked up her brand new porch at eight-thirty, Sookie wasn't ambushed and dragged inside her door, stripped and thrown up against the wall in a hurricane of passion by a horny, blonde boyfriend who couldn't keep his hands to himself. In reality, she wasn't even able to get her key into the lock before he rushed her. With her back to the driveway, she gasped as a blast of air and the hackles on her neck informed her that she was trapped between her home and her former landlord.

Without looking, prey can sense these things. The hunter's size. His proximity. His intent. Without looking, she knew that all of these things were _not _in her favor. He was big. He was three inches away. And he was hungry.

She didn't turn.

He didn't touch.

Instead, she kept her hand on the lock, waiting for him to make the first move. Something. Anything. His arms folding around her. His hands tugging her backwards, not letting her cross the threshold without him. His lips sliding past her ponytail and into her ear, whispering.

Nothing. Not even the inevitable gust of breath or reflection of body heat. He had neither.

"Hello, Sookie."

It broke the spell and she let out a shaky breath. "How long have you been waiting for me?"

"Since sundown."

She made herself turn the key as she spoke. "That was two hours ago. You knew I worked until eight."

"Yes."

Opening the door, she made herself laugh. "Afraid I'd beat you home and not invite you back inside?"

Two hands grabbed her shoulders, stopping her from stepping in.

"Yes."

With that, she was turned around and pulled into a soft, cotton black hole. She craned upwards, catching the eye of a serious, yet amused vampire. Unable to stop herself, she smiled faintly. "I gave you my word that I wouldn't."

His light grip wasn't forceful, but it wasn't about to loosen, either. "I despise risks," he answered in the scratchy, quiet rumble of his.

Sookie chuckled. And just like that, the ice was broken.

"Eric Northman, won't you please-oh-please come inside my house?"

He cracked a smile. His reservedness disappeared and he released her, turning and bending to retrieve a zipped-up heated bag from the floor, like the type they delivered pizzas in, only not flat. When he stood straight again, Sookie was already halfway to the stairs, hanging her jacket on the bannister.

"What's that?" she asked as she kicked off her shoes and stretched her toes.

Eric shouldered his way into the entryway, walking to her kitchen. "Your meal," he answered simply. He set the bag on the table, then unzipped it. Fishing inside, he brought out a covered plate that instantly filled the room with a delectable smell.

Sookie inhaled with relish. "Hmmm...God, that smells good." She walked over and peeked around his arm, watching him peel back the foil and arrange the plate. On it was a gorgeous cut of beef fillet and roasted vegetables. She could tell from the fancy china and artistic little butter flowers that it was from a restaurant that didn't ordinarily do takeout.

She cocked her head, watching him. "Why are you feeding me?" she asked offhandedly.

His upper body swiveled, turning into her. Sookie wasn't sure if she'd ever get used to watching such a tall, lean man move around her. His expression was unreadable, as always. "Because you're feeding _me_. Do humans not eat around this hour?"

She snorted and went to the fridge to pour herself a glass a juice. "It's called dinner time. And yes, yes we do."

"Then it's only rational that I make sure you're properly nourished." He paused and looked at her. "Does my choice please you?"

Sookie nibbled her lips. There it was _again_! This ancient, all-powerful creature so inexplicably concerned about her good opinion. She'd bet dollars to donuts that Eric had never fed a human, not even kings, nevermind a nobody from Nowheresville.

He stepped aside, gesturing to the table and chair, indicating that she sit. Her stomach gurgled softly at his offer. She'd been so preoccupied that she hadn't eaten much lunch, just a stolen fry or two out of basket that Lafayette had set out for Holly. The meal Eric had brought was literally irresistible. And yet, she hesitated.

"It _does_ please me," she admitted, hoping to avoid a fight. "But I'd like to take care of business first. I'll eat after."

Eric's eyes narrowed. "You're tired. You're hungry. Taking your blood before you've eaten will deplete you further. I won't have you pass out in my arms." His eyes flared briefly. "Not from hunger."

Sookie rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. And to be honest, I don't like eating in front of vampires. It's..."

His brow went up questioningly.

She huffed and looked for the right words. "It's...disconcerting. Like being naked in front of your pets. You have no idea what they're thinking about when they watch you."

His white teeth flashed and a chuckle reverberated in his chest. "I've never wanted to be a pet so badly in my life."

"You know what I mean. I'd rather eat once you've left."

"It'll be cold by then."

Sookie shrugged. "I can heat it up. It's obviously quality. It'll keep."

Eric watched her through lowered lids, then relented. "As you wish. Just promise me you will eat. I forbid you to starve yourself out of pride, simply because the food is from me."

Sookie snorted. "I managed to eat regularly just fine before you came along, Mister Ego. I doubt I'll start wasting away now, hoping you'll take notice."

To her surprise, Eric also smirked in amusement.

Standing somewhat awkwardly, Sookie gestured to the living room. "So. What now? Did you want to...?" She leveled her eyes on the couch, wordlessly suggesting it.

His head slowly followed her line of sight before sliding back in her direction. Sookie silently cursed the way she felt naked and foolish in front of him. She kept her back straight and waited. He wanted to drink from her. The least he could do was proffer some ideas on the how.

He took a step towards her. "What was your preference with Bill?"

"Pardon?"

Another step. "When you fed Bill, what was your preferred position when he drank from you?"

Sookie blinked rapidly, unsure of how to answer. Eric was yet another step closer, quickly eroding the small space between them again. "I..." she stammered. "I don't know. I didn't _feed_ Bill, not like that anyway."

His head cocked, cool blue drilling into her with renewed curiosity. "Explain."

Yes, she was definitely naked. Her Merlotte's baby tee and black short shorts were just a disguise, fooling normal people. Eric had figured out a way to see right through them. He was devouring her. His dauntless interest nailed her right to the floor and kept her there as he examined every last detail, verbal or physical. She felt compelled to answer.

"Well," she began helplessly. "I mean, I gave him my blood when he was injured. And he bit me during se-," she cut off and looked away. "You know...during that. But...I mean...we didn't have a schedule or anything. All of them just sorta happened."

She was blocked in again. A black t-shirt was suddenly her whole world, filling every last molecule in front of her. A long, elegant finger reached out and tipped her chin up, bringing her eyes with it. She couldn't read him as he stared down at her intently. There was definitely something there. Something surprised and ponderous. He obviously was taken aback by her admission, yet he didn't want to betray any emotion.

When he spoke, the grit of his voice made her shiver. "He was a fool," he murmured, spanning his fingers across her jaw. "A fool not to take open delight in you."

Sookie's eyes hardened. "He was kind. He was careful. He never took advantage of me."

His other hand slid around her waist and pulled her against him. Sookie was too busy trying to win their staring contest to struggle.

Eric lowered. "You never understood your rarity with him. How wondrous you truly are. When a vampire drinks from you, he should revere you for being shown such favor."

Sookie swallowed nervously. "He didn't know what I was."

"What you are is irrelevant," he hissed softly. "From his first sip, he should have told you that You. Are. Magnificent."

God have mercy, this was not how the evening was supposed to play out. She was supposed to feed him. He was supposed to leave. She was supposed to eat her nice dinner, take a nice, hot bath, then go to bed. She was certainly not supposed to be in Eric's arms as he traced her face and called her rare, wondrous, magnificent. And she certainly wasn't supposed to be allowing it. Nevermind halfway agreeing with him. After she'd found out from Russell and Lorena that her blood was the most spectacular ambrosia they'd ever had the luck to sample, yeah, she'd kinda thought that Bill should have been the first to tell her so. It had been horrible hearing them extol her delicious blood in such cold, calculating appraisal. How much more wonderful would it have been if Bill had held her tight and whispered that he'd never tasted such a delicacy as her, all those times she'd fed him. But no. She'd found out from creepy assholes. Once again, she'd felt naked, being paraded around in front of unfeeling eyes as they carved her up and drank her down.

It had been nauseating.

Only Eric had reserved his praise, drinking only enough to walk temporarily in the sun, and again when he needed human blood to heal afterwards. He'd had the class to tell her in private, last night, exactly how she tasted to him. And for the first time, the description hadn't disgusted her. It had exhilarated her. Freedom and sunshine. That's what Eric tasted in her.

Sookie closed her eyes. All of this was making her head hurt.

"So. How should we do this, then?"

Eric didn't answer her. Instead, he merely took her hand and led her to the couch. He sat, settling deep into the cushions, the trunks of his thighs splaying out lazily as he got comfortable. Looking up at her, he tugged her hand.

"Sit."

Her eyes widened. "In your lap?"

"It's easiest. I can monitor you better if we're flush. You'll feel no pain, I promise you."

Sookie barked a laugh. "You're kidding, right?"

He didn't release her hand. "Trust me. I've fed tens of thousands of times. I will take care of you."

Sookie saw his sincere expression, then diverted her eyes to the ceiling. _Stop stalling_, she berated herself. _Just do it and get it over with. _

Ignoring the hunger in his eyes, she stepped between his sprawled legs and sat backwards, sitting up. His thigh muscles were rigid under her. There was absolutely no give with her weight. She held still, straight as an arrow.

"Relax against me," he instructed.

She shook her head. "Straighten up," she countered. "I'm not lying back."

Eric sighed with strained patience and sat up, pulling her deeper into his groin, but joining her at ninety degrees. "Stubborn girl," he chided.

"Let's just do this, okay?" she replied, determined not to give in to how...good he felt. He was fingering her ponytail, curling it around, sending pleasant little tugs into her scalp. His fingers traveled to her nape, teasing the soft little hairs. She could sense his mouth, so close to her ear.

Sookie took a deep breath. "Eric?"

His fingers paused.

"Please," she murmured, looking over her shoulder at him. "I know it was a trap, but...can you be more..." she paused, "...gentle? Than you were the first time? With Russell?"

His fingers fell away.

Looking back into his stony face, Sookie suddenly felt small and helpless. She was willingly wrapped in a vampire's embrace. She was at his mercy. Any gentleness he showed now was purely at his whim.

He moved again. His hands, so inquisitive, held her lightly, one on the side of her head and the other around her upper arm.

"I tasted your fear that day," he said at last, his gaze flicking away from hers. "It was...upsetting. I do not like you in pain, Sookie." He leaned forward, nuzzling just behind her ear. She knew he was searching for an artery, but the intimacy of the act caught her by surprise. She inhaled, startled by how warm and slippery it turned her belly. He found a spot. He kissed it chastely. "Let me show you how it can be."

He opened his mouth over her and bit down tenderly. There was no pain. Only a slight pressure. Then warmth as her blood charged to the surface of her skin, running straight to him, as if it had missed him like crazy. It exploded into his mouth with all of the eagerness that she had refused to show him.

A moan escaped her lips. Her eyes fluttered. It was done. She was in Eric's hands. In his mouth. In his throat. She let her head fall into her cradle of his hand, baring her neck, letting him show her that feeding a vampire could be every bit as pleasurable as fucking one. There were no interruptions. No kings to deceive. It was just them and the deal they'd struck.

She went limp against him.

Eric growled quietly, encouraging her. His fingers widened and coasted over her skin, stroking her as he took measured, controlled mouthfuls. He didn't let a single drop escape. With her eyes still closed, Sookie couldn't help but smile. Like her, Eric disliked the waste of spilling. She didn't realize that she'd started leaning, her back finding the perfect resting place against his chest. He was better than a million massage chairs as he vibrated softly with his contentment, relaxing her tired muscles with that odd, but sweet vampire purr.

"Hmmmm," she crooned. "Much better."

And it was. So much better. In fact, not only was it nothing like his faux attack on her at Fangtasia, it was nothing like anything she'd ever experienced with Bill. Feeding Bill had always been a frenzy of urgency, either medicinal or in the throes of passion. Never had he pulled her close and sipped from her with slow, deliberate enjoyment. She guessed from his self-hating nature that feeding for feeding's sake had no pleasure for him. He needed that extra push before he succumbed to that need.

Not Eric.

His entire being was attuned to this. There was no shame in him. No hesitation. His pleasure was almost palpable. It filled the air just as sure as his rumblings did. And yet he wasn't mindless with it. His fingers, playful and soft as they were on her throat, were gauging every minute detail of her pulse. He was holding her like a lover, not pinning her down like prey. His body, his concentration, were completely wrapped around her.

Sookie joined him, concentrating just as hard and slipping into a kind of meditative state. Hers wasn't a loss of blood, merely a transfer. Still alive, it flowed happily into Eric, feeding his body and nourishing his soul. She could feel it. It worked its way into his chest, his arms, his legs. He was growing warm beneath her. She sighed softly, snuggling deeper, searching deeper. She didn't say a word. None were needed.

It felt like hours, but after only ten minutes, Eric unsheathed his fangs from her throat. It broke their connection and Sookie jolted, instantly disliking the loss. Eric tightened his hold fractionally, like he feared she was jumping away from him. Gripping her, he began licking his bite, cleaning up every last morsel of the most erotic flavor he'd ever encountered. His lips moved over her nape, his nose in her hair.

"Want you," he muttered unthinkingly. "So fucking much."

Sookie blinked rapidly, tension reinflating her previously relaxed form. This wasn't right. This wasn't part of their deal, these feelings sparking through their connected skin.

"Heal me," she asked, sitting up from her comfy recline. She paused and added, "Please."

Eric tensed in response. He said nothing, but Sookie felt his irritation at the sudden change.

"Always," he answered softly. He pricked his finger. He healed his mark. She was as clean and unblemished as when she'd first walked through the door.

Wrapping her hands around her upper arms, she rubbed herself briskly and stood up from his lap.

"It's late," she said. "I'm tired and I need to eat. Please," she gestured to the door without looking at him. "Just go. I'll see you tomorrow."

A rough growl filled the room, low and sexy and totally unappreciated.

"You will not," he said, taking her by the shoulders and turning her. She looked up. Strangely, his face was all business.

"What I've taken from you will need time to replenish," he said coolly. "I'll come back in two days."

She nodded too quickly and looked away. "Fine. Sounds...fine. See you then."

The familiar feel of his fingers tipping her jaw. She was forced to look up into unfathomable blue again. He drown her in his silence. It hurt to listen to.

Finally, before he turned away and zipped out into the night before she could see him, Sookie heard his parting word.

"Magnificent."


	3. Exhaustion

**A/N:** As usual, I'm stunned by everyone's reviews. Seriously, you guys. Here's part three. Sorry it's taking longer. Baby stuff keeps interfering. And more for _Pretty Kitty_ is coming! I promise! It's just taking a bit more time to weave that yarn together.

**Exhaustion**

Pam was rapidly losing her mind.

After Eric had told her of the deal he'd struck with Sookie regarding her house, she'd chalked it up to his fondness for the human and the supposed deliciousness of her blood that he'd sold out so cheaply. Five feeding sessions seemed paltry, at least to her mind. Especially since humans lined up to willingly feed Eric for free. Pam felt slighted on his behalf, like Sookie had fleeced her beloved maker. But no matter. He seemed happy with the arrangement, and Sookie's house was hardly Monticello, so her interest in the matter ended there.

Or so she'd thought.

After the second payment rendered, Eric had returned to Shreveport, completely erratic.

He'd stormed through the bar, nearly tossing human and vampire customers out of his way until he reached his office, where he barricaded himself inside. Aside from his particularly foul mood, this in itself didn't seem odd. And as per the usual routine, Pam dutifully scanned the crowd and found a suitably willing woman for her master's entertainment. The one she chose that evening was tall, auburn hair, milky skinned with wide, green eyes. She smelled of lavender. She would do nicely.

The girl had barely made a meek entrance into Eric's office before she came scrambling out, an enraged roar chasing her well out into the public area.

"_GET OUT!_"

Pam's ears perked and she watched as the girl ran tearfully for the door.

Bemused, Pam went to talk to him. Was the girl unacceptable? Was he in the mood for something spicier? Meatier? What the hell? He didn't usually object to her choices for him. She found him brooding behind his desk, his eyes mere slits as he stared at the wall. The sparkling, ethereal scent of Sookie's blood clung to his lips and sang just under his skin. He'd obviously enjoyed his appetizer for the evening. Pam wasn't sure why he'd forgone the main course.

"What was wrong with her?"

His eyes shot up, almost like he hadn't heard her enter. "What?"

Pam sighed. "The girl you sent packing? Was she not to your taste?"

She could hear his teeth grinding from across the room. She could also sense his hunger. It was always healthy, simmering just on the surface of his skin. It was there now, and it was barely under control. Eric had never been the sort of vampire who drank only what he needed. His zest for blood ensured that he drank for pleasure, far beyond bodily requirement. So what was the problem with the redhead she'd given him?

He shoved himself back from his desk, his expensive chair scraping the cement floor. "Tru Blood. B positive. And leave me the fuck alone."

Pam's eyes went round and she snorted in disbelief. "I'm sorry, I had something crazy in my ear. I could have sworn you just asked for synthetic shit in a bottle."

He rose slowly. Pam knew this tactic. He used it on people he wanted to intimidate. His full height scared most people. Jesus, was he serious with this?

"I said B positive. Bring it to me, then turn around and get the fuck out. Am I clear?"

Pam obeyed. Obeyed, and chalked it up to a shitty fight with Sookie that left a bad taste in his mouth. He'd be better after he stewed in his own consternation, died for the day, and woke up fresh. Pam left him in peace.

But the next night was worse.

A million times worse.

Suddenly the bar was too small to contain Eric. Their small, Shreveport establishment was in no way equipped to cage a pissed-off, sulking animal. He paced the length of the place before it opened, grunting and grumbling about changes they needed to make to the place, then waving his hand, erasing everything he'd just said. After they opened, he locked himself in his office again, screaming for Pam. As she entered, she was bombarded with bizarre commands that left her reeling with confusion.

"You want me to do what?" she blinked at him.

From the flurry of crumpled paper on his desk, Eric barely looked up as he balled up another piece, then began writing rapidly on a fresh page.

"I said rehire the carpenters that built my cubby in Sookie's house and have them build me another one in the forest nearby. Or the cemetery. I don't give a fuck which. Just make sure it's safe, but within fifty feet of her front door." Another piece of paper hit the floor. A new piece met his pen's cruel scribblings.

Her head slowly cocked to one side, regarding this crazy person who'd overtaken her logical sire.

"Sookie's given her word she won't rescind your invitation. Why not just stay in the cubby you've already built?"

Two blue bullets shot from his desk and impaled her. "Pam?"

She lowered her head instantly. This order was not to be questioned, or even mentioned, ever again. Even though it made no goddamn sense. Why would he need to sleep in her woods? If she welched on her promise and took back his invite, he could simply bully and cajole her into giving it back. There was no reason for him to keep a backup cubby nearby. To Pam's mind, it stank of a lovesick schoolboy, mooning over the sweetest girl in class and guarding her from afar.

Ick.

But she backed away, relenting. She wasn't about to question him with that look in his eyes. "Yes, Eric."

He went back to scribbling and didn't see her as she swept up some of the paper balls on her way out. Once well away from his door, she smoothed out the first piece.

_Sookie, _

_It's vital that you understand- _

It cut off there. Pam opened the next.

_Sookie,_

_After considering our agreement, I've decided a renegotiation is required-_

It cut off as well. Incredulous, Pam opened the final ball, which had been crushed with particular rage, down to the size of a marble.

_I need you._

Pam stuffed the notes in her push-up bra. She'd burn them later. No one would ever discover such compromising drivel in her maker's handwriting, not while she was around. She made a mental note to collect them all from his floor, later after he'd left for the evening. Meanwhile, it was time for him to get his shit under control.

She spied a tall, striking brunette at the bar. She smelled wonderfully healthy. She had a smoky, exotic face. Her legs could easily wrap around Eric twice, and give him the release he so clearly needed. Pam walked over to her and, with no preamble, dragged her into a glamor.

"You'll go to him," she instructed the woman as she dutifully set down her rum and Coke. "You'll offer him everything he wants. Be as sweet as fucking sugar. Get him off. No matter what."

Pam snapped her fingers and dismissed her, pointing to his office. "Sweet," she repeated as the woman walked away.

She watched as the human knocked politely, then stepped into his lair once he barked his admittance. It was all of fourteen seconds before she was scurrying back out, just like the woman the night before, fully clothed, unbitten, and scared for her life.

"Fuck," Pam hissed angrily. "Fine." Plan B.

She prowled the crowded floor until she found the polar opposite. A young girl. Blonde. Petite. Not waifishly skinny, but rather a slender athletic appearance. Her face was innocent. Except for her eyes. Fire lived in her dark blue eyes. Pam caught her gaze and dragged her under as well.

"You will go to him," she repeated again. "You will be impertinent. You will show no fear if he threatens you, nor will you leave if he demands it. You will argue with him. You will provoke him. Understand?"

The girl nodded, deep in the world Pam had spun, and walked to the office door.

This one stayed longer. Pam was hopeful. Perhaps a fantasy lay was what he needed, not his usual preference of tall and dark. This pixie-like thing should do the trick.

Three minutes later, the girl calmly exited Eric's door and made a beeline for Pam. She tapped her shoulder to get her attention, then shocked her by taking her cheeks in her hands and pulling her face down to those big, blue eyes.

"I'm not Sookie," she parroted from a glamored, faraway place. "No one is. Stop sending him women. He's not hungry. For anything."

With that, she released Pam and turned away, heading straight for the exit. No doubt Eric had glamored her home as well. This was no place for such a sweetheart.

She didn't want to give up, but he pulled the ultimate dick move, as she discovered when her phone beeped with a text message.

_I've gone out. Don't call me. -E_

She zipped to his office and threw open the door. Fucking sure enough. Empty. He'd slipped out the back door. Pam instantly felt like a truant officer, hunting piss-ant students that were supposed to sit quietly in detention. God, what a buzkill of a feeling. She cursed and slammed the door shut. She knew all too well, he wasn't coming back tonight. His disdain for this bar right now, the trappings of being important to vampires and admired by breathers, all of it was suffocating him. A thousand years of immortality hadn't changed him that much, he was still a creature of the forest. A hunter. A former man who'd loved the boundless ocean.

He liked getting lost.

And right now, he was lost...in Sookie.

No. He wouldn't be back tonight. His desire for blood be damned.

And tomorrow night, he might not come back either, depending on whether or not his meal behaved herself.

Pam cursed her name silently, then went back to work.

E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S

It was well past midnight when Sookie pulled into her driveway on the night of her third payment. She eyed the lights on through the windows, barely registering that she hadn't left them on when she'd left, hence someone had turned them on in her absence.

Her brain felt like oatmeal. Sam had talked her into working a double shift when Arlene had called in to say that Lisa had the chickenpox. With her shift starting at ten, Sookie was supposed to get off at six. Instead, she'd plowed through the entire day and night on a Saturday, no time for breaks or meals, as the rowdy crowds came out of the woodworks, taking advantage of Merlotte's two-for-one beer pitcher night.

Her cramping legs screamed in agony as she stepped out of her car and slammed the door. She walked towards her lit house, dimly aware of the fact that the lights could mean only one thing: Eric was inside waiting for her.

Where that thought had thrilled and bothered her to no end two days ago, it barely mattered to her now as she trudged up her stairs and keyed her lock. She was too tired. Dead tired. Every muscle hurt and every brain cell had gone on strike. Getting all uppity about Eric and their weird-ass dance around each other was simply too expensive tonight.

She almost fell across her threshold, just managing to shut the door behind her.

"You're late."

His husky rebuke filtered in from her living room where she could hear her new flatscreen tv on, somebody talking about the physical properties of lead.

She shrugged out of her jacket and threw her purse down.

"Double shift," she answered wearily. "Arlene called out and I needed the money."

She walked into her living room. Even in her exhausted state, her heart fluttered briefly. Eric sat on her sofa, just as he had the other night, his long frame overflowing and spilling onto the floor. As usual, he wore dark clothes. Charcoal jeans and a dark gray, V-neck sweater that clung to every plane on his chest and stomach. She could just see the leather cord of his talisman peeking out at his neck, under his clothes. Against such a stormy backdrop, his blue eyes popped even more than usual.

He looked at her impassively. "You could have called."

Sookie snorted and flopped onto the couch next to him, too far gone to care. "So could you. I didn't realize you'd been waiting."

On the tv, Jamie and Adam were busting the myth that a lead balloon couldn't fly. They had taped together a bunch of lead foil pages into a cube and were filling it with helium. So far, it seemed to be working. The cube was filling. A lead balloon appeared to be disproving the old saying.

From her side, she could feel Eric's eyes on her. She couldn't tell from his silence if he was angry, or simply making an observation. Again, she couldn't summon the energy to care. He'd come to sap even more of her strength, taking her blood in a pleasant, yet literally draining ritual.

She sighed. If only she could just rest for half an hour first.

"I'm guessing you're hungry," she mused out loud.

He didn't answer right away, which was odd. She turned to him and found him examining her with startling intensity.

"You've overtaxed yourself," he noted as he leaned towards her and inhaled with slow, unsettling scrutiny. "You're nearly unconscious."

Sookie willed herself not to back away from him. She shrugged slightly. "I'm all right. Just tired." Her eyes slanted towards her dark kitchen.

Eric caught her glance and nodded. "I brought you pizza. I understand most humans love it."

She instantly lowered her eyes, embarrassed that he'd seen her hope at the prospect of being fed again. The steak he'd brought the other night had been sinful. She'd devoured it in four bites. Now he'd brought her one of her favorite foods. She silently rebuked herself for wanting him to.

"Thank you," she said automatically.

He began to stand up. "I'll reheat some for you. You need food."

Without thinking, she grabbed his hand and stopped him. "No!"

The contact startled him into stillness. He looked at their joined fingers, bending his wrist so that he could see more of hers and less of his.

"I..." she stammered, "...I just want to rest for a minute. Do you mind?"

He cocked his head at her, then nodded. "As you wish."

He sat back down next to her, facing the silver cube as it rose higher in the cavernous warehouse. Up, up and away.

Speaking of lead, Sookie couldn't hold her eyes open or her head up for another second. Again with no thought, she grabbed the fat throw pillow against the armrest and tossed it into Eric's lap. She curled her legs up and fell head and shoulders onto the pillow, facing the tv and expelling a relieved breath as she collapsed into a fetal position.

"Oh, yeah," she sighed gratefully, barely aware of the vampire she'd fallen into. It just felt so good to lie down. She had another shift tomorrow afternoon, and she was already tired from it as well. Combined with today's drudgery, it felt less like earning a living and more like being crushed under an avalanche of bricks. Everything from her eyelashes to her toes hurt.

Vegging in front of the Discovery Channel felt almost as good as ten aspirins.

Eric looked down in surprise at the woman curled so trustingly in his lap. From the moment she'd stepped in the door, his annoyance at her tardiness had melted. There were dark circles under her bright eyes. She moved with less vivaciousness than usual. She put up absolutely no fight at his presence in her house or his snippy questions. She was too tired to even notice that she'd cuddled up against him, silencing his aggressive hunger for her and filling him with a calm, utterly foreign sense of protectiveness. At her touch, the burning restlessness he'd felt for the last two days vanished. He relaxed. He cocked his head, confused by the physical changes that beset him.

He'd come for blood and with every intention of arguing his way into her bed. Every inch of him had been seething with the need for release. Sadly, none of the candidates that Pam had rousted at the bar had interested him. Quite the opposite, they'd turned his stomach. This ache in him, usually filled so easily with any number of random beauties, had narrowed into a very specific longing. It was Sookie. Only Sookie.

His fingers slid into her loose hair and began to rub slow, soothing circles, hoping to dispel the ache he could sense in her head.

Her eyes fluttered closed. "You don't have to do that," she murmured softly.

"I want to," he answered truthfully.

With closed eyes, she arched her brow. "Part of your blood-letting package, is it? Free head rubs?"

Her chuckle turned to a gasp when he curled down into his lap and put his lips under her ear. "You're too tired. As badly as I want to, I won't be tasting you tonight, little fairy."

The coolness of his lips banished her fatigue and replaced it with adrenaline-fueled arousal. She bit her lip, hoping to quell it. Feeding Eric and going to bed good. Going to bed and fucking Eric bad. She suddenly wished she'd told Sam to take his extra shift and shove it where the sun don't shine. She should have realized she'd need all her wits about her to combat this stupid, sexy scoundrel.

"Yes, you will be. Otherwise this would just be a pizza date on a Saturday night."

He didn't remove his lips from her skin. "You tease me," he gruffed low and playful. "I like the idea of bringing you food and watching tv while you lie against me." His finger toyed with the shell of her ear. "Very, very much."

"Yeah, well," Sookie tried to shake him off, but he kept his place coiled around her. She rolled her eyes. "That's not what we're doing here, buster. I'm not going to let you drag this out for weeks. Five feeds, and tonight is number three." She arched her neck in his lap, preening for him. "Go nuts."

"No."

Sookie huffed at his quiet rebuttal. She pulled his hand out of her hair and cupped it around her throat, provoking him with the warm, soft throb of her pulse. "Yuh-huh."

_Click_

Sookie smirked. His tongue said _no-no_, but his dental erection said _yes-yes_.

"Do all fairies fight this dirty?" he asked.

Sookie chuckled. "I doubt any fairy ever had to work this hard for a vampire bite." She turned up in his lap to look at him, smiling faintly. "Are you losing interest already? Am I like cheap bubble gum that tastes great at first, but goes bland after a few chews?"

Eric growled, his body going rigid, his hands clutching her greedily, as if someone were threatening to snatch her away. "Cheap and bland? Are you fucking crazy?"

"Well, then what's the holdup?"

"The holdup is your health," he gritted angrily. "The holdup is that I want you happy and strong when I taste you."

Sookie frowned at his tone. "I _am_ strong," she defended. "God, you make it sound like I just wandered out of a death camp. It was just a double shift. I'm fine." She jabbed her finger at her pulse. "Eat up. I need to go to bed."

"I said no."

For God's sake! She lifted from his lap, enough to get into his face. "Drink now or I go get another knife and cup."

"You think I'd let you take a single step towards the kitchen, little girl?"

She bit her lip. "Eric Northman, I rescind your-,"

His hand flew out and clapped over her mouth. She'd said it slow enough, giving him plenty of time to stop her. Over the stack of his fingers, her eyes flashed with the unfinished threat. _Drink me now, or I kick you out._

He glared daggers at her. Her lips had gone soft and still under his hand, making him want to remove it and replace it with his mouth. Fuck, she smelled glorious. And she was draped over his legs, leaning into him while he held her face in his hands. Most baffling of all, she was encouraging him to bite her...and he was refusing! What the hell was wrong with him? He'd drunk people who were dying on battlefields. He'd drained women. Children. Parents who begged for his mercy for their soon-to-be orphans. He'd killed them all.

Now an exhausted waitress lay pliant and willing in his arms, and he was resisting because he couldn't bear the thought of reducing her further. He wanted her fiery, like their second feeding. He wanted her stony barriers to fall away as he educated her on what it would be like to be his. He had plans. There was no way in hell that he could stop at just five. Sookie's blood had ruined him. There was no alternative, she _had_ to be his. Eric would go mad if she wasn't. So he'd fed as he'd never fed before, biting her with the upmost care, holding her like a thin piece of crystal, cushioning her body with his own. He'd never put so much of himself into a meal, and the result had undone him. With only their minds, they'd made love to each other. Unknowing and unwillingly, they'd fallen into each other, pressing, learning, touching, as their bodies lay peacefully joined at her throat.

And he wanted that. Every single fucking night from now on.

He refocused on the woman in his lap as she watched him expectantly.

She wasn't giving him a choice. Feed now. His seduction would have to wait until number four.

_"_Fine," he muttered with bad grace.

Sookie nodded, relieved, and made to sit up. Eric held her down gently. "Stay as you are," he instructed. "Sleep, if you like. I'll make sure you feel nothing."

She snorted in disbelief. "Sleep? While you feed? Are you kidding?"

He looked at her squarely. "You don't trust me?"

Her gaze slid to the side as she considered. Then, she shrugged. "I guess I do. I mean, you've been gentle so far. Right?"

He nodded. "You make me want to be gentle."

Sookie kept her eyes away from him and turned back towards Mythbusters, settling back down on the fat pillow. Its plumpness put her mid-chest on Eric, which meant he could bend down easily to reach her. As she closed her eyes in anticipation, he softly dusted her hair from her neck, tracing it sweetly.

"Your skin is beautiful," he praised roughly. "To be rough with you would mar it. That's unforgivable."

Sookie merely blinked. "Cut the poetry, Eric. Just do it."

She heard a pained sigh above her. "Every night, if you'd let me."

He bent over her and bit down. Sookie inhaled sharply, expecting pain with his penetration, yet feeling none. Instead, just like before, warmth invaded her body as her life forced flowed from her and into his waiting, undead form.

"How do you do that?" she murmured, closing her eyes and going limp in his lap. Far from feeling invasive, Eric's bite felt as soothing as a hot water bottle. Or a head rub. Or a loving man who wanted to make her feel better.

He withdrew and answered. "Do you want me to talk, or do you want me to feed?"

Sookie rolled her eyes behind her lids. "Fine. Sorry. Eat."

He carefully reinserted his fangs into their punctures and drew from them. As before, the room erupted with the sound of a purring lion as Eric melted into her exquisite taste. Sookie laughed softly. With her defenses down, she couldn't help but enjoy how much pleasure he obviously took in drinking from her. He'd told her the other night that she should never doubt a vampire's gratitude when she deigned to feed one. With Eric, she could hear his gratitude as deep and clear as an outboard motor, just as she could feel it in the cool, soft pluckings of his fingers as they coasted over her ribs and bare arm. His other hand burrowed between her head and the pillow, cradling her to him.

The shiny, cubist balloon was twenty feet off the ground. "Holy cow!" Adam exclaimed. "It's time for the finishing touch!" The mythbuster attached a small basket on strings to the bottom of the cube, complete with paper dolls Adam and Jamie inside. The balloon hoisted its passengers away, the two flesh men laughing from the ground as the unlikely contraption floated gently above them.

Eric kept his word.

Sookie felt nothing but pleasantly attended to. Her consciousness slipped further away. Sleep felt like a real possibility. She never would have believed it. His was technically a violent act, yet she felt safe. Protected even. Like she would never need to be afraid again, as long as Eric kept vigil beside her, her blood keeping him nourished and alert and...devoted.

_Devoted?_

She pinched her eyes together. It must be the blood loss making her think such mushy nonsense.

Suddenly he was lifting away from her, his tongue passing over his mark as he reluctantly disengaged.

Sookie murmured and shifted towards his retreating form. "Already?"

A low growl answered her, his hand sweeping down her side and over her hip. "Any more and I'll endanger you."

"Hm," she sighed noncommittally, snuggling backwards.

"Pizza, lover. And bed. You need these things."

_Ha! Lover? Why of all the freaking nerve..._

But her mouth didn't cooperate. "Hm," she hummed again. "Did you enjoy your dinner?" she muttered.

His chuckle was rich and warm. "It's the only meal I want for the rest of my life." He paused, letting his hands slide soothingly over her, but not too inappropriately. "Consent to me, lover. Be mine. I'll care for you, protect you with everything that I am."

"No," she sighed, feeling him press a bloodied finger to her pulse, healing her. "It would never work, Eric. You and I...we're impossible."

He was quiet for a long time behind her. Sookie drifted off again. She was vaguely aware of being lifted up. Something tall and strong was carrying her away. She was lowered into her bed, her blankets wrapped around her and her hair slowly teased away from her face.

"Impossible?" a voice chided her from far away. "Sookie, don't you understand?"

"Unnersand what?" she muttered in her sleep.

"You and I, sweet fairy, are the lead balloon."


	4. Jealousy

**A/N: **As usual, I suck for not posting sooner. It's the baby's fault! I swear! And also, I had most of this written before the _Spellbound_ episode. Turns out that we both ended up using a lot of the same wording. I thought about rewriting, but nah. I'm already playing with someone else's toys as it is. Love to all. The review numbers still blow me away. Give me 200 for this one and I'll smut up the last chapter like nobody's business. **  
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**Jealousy**

"Jesus, Sook. You look like shit," Lafayette sidled up to her as she grabbed some extra spoons out of the metal canister in the back hallway.

Sookie cast him a withering glance before sighing deeply. "Long nights," she answered vaguely. "I'm not getting much sleep."

Her friend's beautiful, almond-shaped eyes slitted in amusement. "Someone helping you with that?"

Her head shot up and her eyes rounded. "What do you mean?"

He held his hands up in innocence. "Just asking. You got someone in your bed? Insomnia can fuckin' fantastic if it's the result of fantastic fuckin'."

Sookie blushed and looked away.

"No," she denied sheepishly. "No one's helping me with it. I'm _not_ sleeping all by myself, thank you."

And it was the truth. As Lafayette snickered and smiled knowingly, Sookie couldn't help her deepening blush, despite her innocent claim. No, it was absolutely true that no one had been in her bed over the last eight days. That was the problem. The sleeplessness was caused by thinking of someone else in her bed. Every night since this whole stupid feeding deal began, Sookie had spent too many hours in bed tossing restlessly. Usually her quiet nights alone had been one of her favorite parts of the day. It meant she couldn't hear a single thought from a human head and she cherished the silence as it wrapped around her, as snuggly as her blankets.

Now, the silence was eclipsed by the loneliness. And the loneliness was the worst on the nights Eric left after sipping his payments, taking his deep purrs, trespassing hands and mercifully quiet thoughts with him.

A spoon slipped from her grasp and pinged on the floor tiles.

"Fuck," she muttered, bending to pick it up.

The curve of her ass was too much for her over-sexed friend and he laid a resounding smack on her left cheek.

Sookie shot upright. "Hey!"

Lafayette chuckled naughtily. "Come on, sweet cheeks. Jesus and I are going to a club in Shreveport tonight. Wanna come? Blow off some steam? It'll cure what fuckin' ails ya, that's fo sho."

She rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "Trying to gay me up?"

"It ain't gay," he replied, waving a spatula whimsically in the air. "Just a club. Jesus wants to dance. Keeps sayin' we need to represent in public."

Sookie smirked. "Represent what?"

"Ah, fuck knows. Gayness. Hotness. We gotness lotness of both."

"That you do," she agreed kindly. She turned towards her tables and her spoon-less customer, but hesitated before turning back. "You're just going out to dance?"

Lafayette nodded. "Shame all the straights with our shapes, then we're going home. That's all."

She nibbled her lip, then shrugged. "Yeah, okay. Why not?"

He tugged her ponytail approvingly. He didn't see her shiver at the thought of another man who enjoyed tugging it playfully. "_Best_ fuckin' answer in the world," he said. "We're leavin' at nine."

"Great," she said, turning back to work. "Catch up with you then."

Sookie headed back out into the dining area, feeling more empowered than she had all week. After all, it had been three days. Three. Fucking. Days. After she'd woken up the morning after the third night she'd fed him, she hadn't seen nor heard from him since. As she'd sat up in her bed, she'd been shocked to find ten bottles of iron supplements on her night stand. The expensive kind, the ones you see on the very top shelf in health food stores. There was no note, but it was obvious who had arranged them in a circle in such a personal place. She'd huffed in indignation at their mysterious appearance, noting that ten bottles was waaaay too many for just two more feedings. Presumptuous bastard.

Walking downstairs for breakfast, she'd been doubly shocked by what she found there.

Balloons. Big, shiny, silver helium balloons. Hundreds of them.

They crowded her ceiling, not a single inch of it could be seen under the press of their metallic bodies. Sookie had stood in wonder, looking up at them. They were the type of fancy balloons you gave to someone for a birthday, or a graduation, except these balloons didn't have any decoration on them. They were just silver.

_Lead_, she amended silently. _They're lead freakin' balloons._

She couldn't decide if she was delighted or furious. Not a single one of her new airborn friends had a ribbon. They floated without tethers. No way to pull them down. Except one. One balloon had a black ribbon near the door, a piece of paper tied limply to the end. She reached out and snatched it up.

_With us, anything is possible. _

_~E_

Since that morning, she'd had half a mind to dig out Jason's old slingshot and shoot the damn things, one by one, right off her ceiling. But on each night she'd returned to find herself alone, she hadn't had the heart to kill them. On the contrary, in the absence of Eric, she'd found their annoying/amusing presence... comforting.

"Here you go," she handed the spoon to the elderly woman who was waiting impatiently to eat her soup. She didn't thank her. Sookie was too preoccupied to care.

Last night, her solitude had driven her to do something stupid. Grabbing her phone, she'd swallowed her pride and texted him. Where was he? Didn't he remember what she'd said about dragging this out? What the fuck? Her text had asked as much. She'd waited forty-three minutes before he texted back.

_Missing me, lover? _

"Augh!" Sookie had thrown her phone across the room. Fucker.

And maybe, yeah. Maybe she was missing him. Maybe she was sitting around at night, feeling cold and lonely, missing the heat she felt when his arrogance made her blood boil, then missing how the press of his body cooled her down as he drank from her after their fight. Maybe his visits weren't the inconvenience she'd originally pegged them to be. Maybe they were...nice.

And safe.

On the nights Eric came to her, Sookie never thought about the fairies coming for her again. They would never dare risk an attack from a vampire as powerful as Eric. Neither would other vampires. Even though her home was hers again, she still felt safer when he was curled up on the sofa with her, the shield of his body pressed solidly against her back. And then there were werewolves. She'd already seen him tear a werewolf apart that had threatened her home.

Now that he'd been gone for three days, she'd had plenty of time to make these rather annoying realizations. Worse was the realization that she wanted more than just _nice_. She wanted fuckin' fantastic. And the way to feel fuckin' fantastic was...

"Shut up," she told her brain.

Nine o'clock came quickly. Thank God. Lafayette was right. Sookie needed to blow off steam. She wanted to dance, dammit. Shake her sugar in a hot, sweaty, thumping room of bad house music. That sounded perfect. After her shift was over, she changed into a simple pink tank top that she kept in her work cubby in Sam's office. She pulled her hair out of its bun and reworked it into a high ponytail, one that showed off her high cheekbones and slender neck. She was still in her black shorts and flat sneakers, but she didn't care. It wasn't like she was on a date. The boys wouldn't care, being too into each other to even glance her way. She jogged into the parking lot and found them waiting.

Jesus kissed her cheek hello. "Hey girl," he greeted kindly, his unusually blue eyes beaming. "You look nice."

"Liar," Sookie chided smilingly. "I look like a worn out barmaid. Thank you, though." She took in his t-shirt and jeans, as well as his muscles that were trying to burst out of them. "And you two are going to make all the girls cry. It's a sin how pretty y'all are."

"Amen," Lafayette agreed without a hint of modesty. "Now lets go before I change my mind about sharing him."

They agreed to take Layfayette's fancy new car. Sookie's mouth hung open when he explained how Eric had sold it to him for a buck. She could barely form the words to ask why.

"Hell if I know," he admitted truthfully. "He said he was trying to enlist me, but why the hell he just didn't tear my arms off instead of bribing me, I'll never know. Crazy-ass mothafucka."

Sookie sat silently in the back, mulling over such loaded generosity. She decided that Eric must be very, _very_ rich. This car and her house seemed like a big deal for small fries like her and her friends, but then, they earned about twenty-three grand a year (or she did, at any rate). Eric must be a gazillionaire, in which case his gifts meant considerably less to him. Indeed, a Corvette and major renovations to him were probably like Walmart gift cards to her. Everything was relative.

The club was exactly what she'd been hoping for as they pulled up. Loud and anonymous. They could feel the bass of the music in the parking lot as they walked up to the darkened entrance and got the wave-in by the bouncer. Jesus bought their drinks at the crowded bar. Sookie downed hers in two sips, kissed her friends on the cheeks, then slipped alone into the pulsing throng of undulating bodies on the dance floor.

She needed more than anything to get lost.

She let the throb of the beat fill her limbs, not caring one bit that she didn't have a partner (most didn't, anyway), and began to move. She'd been told by friends in the past that she danced well, her arms swishing and her hips curving in all the right directions. She smiled softly as her blood pressure increased and endorphins kicked in.

She felt good. Damn good.

A man materialized in front of her and slid into her space, placing his hands on her hips. Sookie's eyes rolled discreetly. God, why did guys always do that? She had given no sign that she wanted company. She put her hands on his chest to gently but firmly push him away. Despite the heat of everyone, the handsome man was room temperature. Sookie looked him in the eye and heard nothing but static in his head. _Vampire._

"No, thank you," she said firmly.

"Are you sure?" he asked flirtingly. Sookie felt the familiar tingle of a vampiric mind brushing against hers. _Glamoring, my ass,_ she thought wryly.

She leaned in, making it clear that she saw him perfectly. "_Very_ sure," she said. "Find someone else."

He blinked in surprise, his glamoring gaze breaking. Sookie knew that her ability to ward it off was unprecedented to most vamps, but she didn't care. She came out tonight expressly to get away from vampire bullshit. She didn't have the patience to invent some plausible act, like not looking him in the eye or being dead drunk, to mollify his suspicions. Tonight, she was a bad-ass mystery. Let him fucking wonder.

And it worked. He melted back into the mob.

Sookie sighed with relief and swiveled away, already forgetting about him and gyrating to a new, heavier pulse of rhythm. The floor filled with more people who wanted to get in on the sexy-sounding beat. She was so lost in her own world that she didn't notice the crowd had pushed her to the side of the room, close to the VIP booths that overlooked the entire floor. Her head craned back as she looked up at the swirling lights that flickered in time to the music. They dimmed for a moment, then blasted the room with three seconds of white light before sliding back into reds and blues.

What she saw in those three seconds froze her blood. She gasped and dropped her head, staring at the ground, grateful that the room had gone dark again. Not that it really helped her out.

Vampires, particularly Eric Northman, had astonishing eyesight.

Sookie turned away from the VIP section and slithered through the sweaty tangle of people, desperate to reach the center.

He was there. Sitting in one of the booths, a leggy, beautiful woman perched serenely in his lap. He was in a grey suit, his black button-down shirt open at the collar. Two other tall, imposing men sat in the booth with them, each of them with similar companions, making Sookie suspect those two were also vampires. They were deep in conversation, directing their voices with obvious deference in Eric's direction. Except Eric wasn't looking at them, nor was he distracted by his lovely date/dinner. As Sookie had looked up and the lights had lifted, she'd seen met his gaze as it lasered across the dance floor, straight through her own eyes, right to the back of her skull. His head was lowered, his blunt teeth slightly bared as he watched her. Sookie had seen that look before. Bill had often stared at her like that, right before he'd torn her clothes off. To see such unhinged lust in a vampire as powerful and unemotional as Eric?

Sookie felt like she'd been pelted by a snowball. The violence in his eyes and the chill of their color sent her reeling into the safety of human witnesses.

Oh, dear God. Sookie kept her eyes lowered, her sense of peace and hedonism totally destroyed. What the hell was he _doing_ here? Of all the fucking places in the whole fucking town, why was he _here_? Sookie threw out her mental nets, listening desperately to the people around her. What was this place? Were they in another vampire bar? Would her friends be stupid enough to come to one? But a brief scan of the humans around her proved that none of them were thinking about vampires. Sex and drugs, sure, but not vampire sex or V. It was just your typical human pleasure-seeking.

Without meaning to or even wanting to, Sookie let her eyes lift over the heads around her, back towards the booths. Eric was still staring right at her. The beautiful woman on his lap was whispering something in his ear, clearly hoping to get his attention. He didn't even blink in her direction as he continued to steal the air from Sookie's lungs with his intensity. She noticed that the woman had lovely skin. It glowed with health and excellent genes. With her hair pulled up, it was clear that she bore no vampire bite, unlike the other women at the table, who were visibly marked with twin puncture holes.

Sookie yanked her eyes away, anger and hurt burning hotly under her lids as she closed them.

_She's stunning_, she thought miserably. _Like a model or a movie star. _ Sookie ducked behind two much taller girls as they laughed and bounced to the music, palming her own throat in dismay. There was no bite on her neck, either. Eric had always been kind enough to heal her after each session.

"Bastard," she muttered, shamelessly hiding from him. She thought back to each of their feedings. How gentle and infuriating and sweet he had been with her. Sookie wasn't sure why, but she'd stupidly assumed that Eric's treatment of her was unique among his meals. That he didn't ordinarily bite so softly, or worry about the health of the donors, or whisper reassuringly to them, or most of all, heal them when he finished.

The girl in his lap was proof, though. While the other girls were left bleeding and marked, Eric's girl was shown more consideration.

_Unless_, Sookie paled as another thought occurred to her, one that had her pushing through the crowd, desperate to escape. _Unless he bit her somewhere else. _

Unwanted images of Eric erupted in her mind. Images of him perched over the woman's prone body, his face buried between her thighs. Between her breasts. Sucking her exquisite body as she held him tightly by the hair and moaned in pleasure. Sookie swore out loud, not that anyone could hear her over the music.

Why did she care?

It's not like she thought Eric didn't feed from other humans on the nights he wasn't with her. Not like she'd asked him to, or even cared if he did. It was none of her fucking concern what the man did. He wasn't her boyfriend. She had zero interest in being his girlfriend. _None at all. _

She was backhanding her eyes, nearly at the exit, when she plowed into Jesus.

"Hey, babe," he smiled, then frowned when he saw her face. "Whoa! What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" she yelled quickly over the pulse. "Nothing! I'm fine. Just...just some jerk grabbing me on the dance floor."

"Oh, hey," he was consoling in an instant, pulling her into an intimate, yet platonic hug. "It's okay. Me and La are here. We won't let anything happen to you, all right?"

Sookie gave a weak, stuttering laugh into his shirt as she let him hug her. "Yeah, I know. I'm okay, seriously. I just wanna dance without getting molested, you know?"

She hoped her lie sounded convincing. Jesus pulled back and flashed her a sweet smile. "Then you ran into the right man, mama. Come on," he tugged at her hands. "_Bailamos_. You and I are going to tear this place up."

"Oh, no," Sookie tried to pull away modestly. "You don't have to do that. You should dance with Lafayette."

He clucked his tongue and jutted his chin. Sookie followed his gesture and saw Lafayette talking animatedly to a woman behind the bar.

"He met an old high school friend," he shouted, sighing dramatically. "I lost my date. So, you're my new partner."

Sookie couldn't help her watery smile. Ah, to be a gay man's last resort. The music picked up just then, as if on cue. A salsa beat, complete with hard drums and a dirty sax that practically ordered the dancers to strip naked and fuck the stranger next to them. She closed her eyes for a second to let it in. Jesus pulled her close with a Latino's confidence. His hands snaked around her waist and locked her hips against his. With one smooth motion, he started to sway with her.

"Come on, sexy girl," he coaxed smilingly. "Every guy in here will be jealous of me."

He said it to be sweet, but the word caught in Sookie's ears. _Jealous_. She bit her lip, daring another sideways glance across the room. She was too far away to see the booths anymore, but it didn't matter. She could still feel him, feel his unnaturally sharp attention following her around the room. She shook her head in anger, furious at him for confusing her so badly. She squeezed Jesus' arms, sliding her hands up until they were around his neck.

"Okay," she said finally. "Sounds good."

Jesus moved with an almost vamp-like speed, swinging her around and landing them squarely back on the dance floor. "Yes!" he crowed loudly, undulating against her. "Move like you're crazy in love with me, Sookie."

She laughed, finding it easy to relax in his arms. With no expectations of any kind, Sookie allowed herself to melt into the hard lines of his body, their hips and bellies and chests pressed tight against each other. Jesus nudged his thigh deep between hers, making her straddle him before dipping her back and pulling her forward.

"Fresh!" she chided with scandalized eyes, slapping at him with playful prudishness.

He roared with laughter, twirling her around, then bringing her back into his arms. "You know it."

They continued that way. Very few dancers had their skill and they stuck out quite noticeably. Jesus ate it up. Sookie blushed and smiled bashfully. She was pleasantly surprised to note that many men did indeed seem to be watching her with interest. She kept her gaze on her partner, only seeing their lecherous gazes out of the corner of her eye. Jesus knew how to show her off, sliding his hands sensuously over her back and ass, touching her like he could barely stop himself there. Sookie enjoyed the farce, batting her eyes at him, puckering her lips and blowing him kisses. It was fun. It was innocent, despite its carnal appearance. Slowly, her happiness returned, the simple pleasure of dancing making her forget the pair of eyes devouring her every move.

Sookie had no idea that much of the male appraisal in the room was vampiric. Her pleasure amplified her scent, and it wafted through a room otherwise filled with the unremarkable human smells of sweat and intoxication. The music drowned out the meaty click of fangs as they ran down around the room, forcing their owners to close their mouths and try to retract them. They sought her out, watching this pretty little creature as she danced with gusto and radiated sunshine. Several were already forming plans, some more violent then others, until one of them stepped forward and crushed all other thoughts of tasting her.

Jesus felt a hand clamp his shoulder. "Leave us."

He stopped dancing and turned, startled to see such a tall, formidable man looming above him. "Excuse me?"

Eric didn't even look at him, instead transfixed by his dance partner. "Step aside, human. I need to speak with Sookie."

Sookie's eyes widened at the interruption. Her hands tightened on Jesus' shoulders. "No," she said at normal volume, knowing her could hear her perfectly despite the noise. "We're busy."

His chilly gaze turned very, _very_ dark at her refusal. Jesus stood taller between the two, blocking Eric from his friend. "Sorry," he offered. "The lady says no."

"The lady and I have business. Leave now, or I'll drop you where you stand."

"Goddamn you," Sookie hissed, releasing Jesus to get in Eric's face. "I don't want to talk, Eric. Whatever you have to say can wait until you decide to collect your next payment."

Bad move. The mention of their deal turned his expression stormy. He grabbed her arm and yanked her close, out of Jesus' warm space and into his cool shadow. "Silence," he hissed at her. "Do not talk of that here."

Sookie was about to argue, but the vampire pulled her away.

"I'm fine!" she called over her shoulder to Jesus, who looked like he was ready to jump the much taller man. "Go home without me! I'll see you later!"

Then he was lost to the crowd. Sookie struggled against Eric's steely grip as he swept through the crowd with her in tow. "Let go!" she gritted, not wanting to cause a scene, but wanting him to know she meant it. He ignored her, pulling her all the way across the room and into the VIP area. He did not stop until they were in a small corner with a velvet sofa and low table in front of it. Without ceremony, Eric tossed her onto the couch, spun on his heel and yanked two heavy curtains closed around the booth, cutting them off from view. He spun again and lowered himself over her sputtering, indignant form as she pulled herself into a sitting position.

"What the fuck is your problem?" she nearly shrieked, trying to get up. He shoved her back down. Sookie cried out at the roughness of his hands against her bare shoulders and at his presumptuous manhandling.

She gasped when he fisted his hand in her hair, jerking her head up and bringing her up to his lowered face. There was no kindness in it. Fear shot through her system. He was livid. Instinctively, she shrunk back, knowing an unpredictable animal when she saw one. His voice was soft as he spoke.

"Vampires are everywhere," he jutted his chin towards the curtain, indicating the room was filled with them. "They smell you. You're asking to be drained, you smell so fucking good."

"So?" she felt herself trembling in his grip and bit her lip in anger at herself. "I can take care of myself, Eric. I don't need you babysitting me."

Eric hissed like a snake. Christ, this girl was ridiculous. He'd sensed her from the minute she'd entered the room. She practically glowed. She was hard to miss, even for vampires who were unaware of her specialness, nevermind to a vampire hyper-tuned to her every move. It was a fucking curse. He was here for business, one of the vampires in his area owned this club and had asked for his mediation in a dispute with another vampire. Both were sitting at the table with them, sipping on their meals and growling at each other while Eric tried not roll his eyes at their petty accusations. His own meal sat untouched. The club owner had been respectful enough to offer her, and Eric had accepted her company in order to keep his host pacified, but he hadn't so much as looked at her once she'd taken position in his lap. He'd merely noted with some annoyance that she was too tall and bony, creating a disharmony in his personal space with a body type too similar to his own. What he needed was someone smaller. Softer. Someone he could pick up and position in any which way he liked. Someone who would curl into him like a sweet little angel, sighing with pleasure as she slotted seamlessly into his bigger proportions.

Then Sookie had walked into the room.

He'd watched her down her drink. He'd watched her slip onto the dance floor. He'd watched while she arched and swayed to the music. Her movements were alluringly flirty. And her aura shimmered with a light that vampires had been deprived of since their making. Yes, she definitely glowed. The irritating argument between his peers had faded into nothing as his attention riveted to his only point of interest.

Enraged, he watched as another vampire - one he knew as a regular in Fangtasia - siddled up to her. Smirking, he put his hands on her. With that single move, Eric made the decision to kill him without even batting an eye. Once he was back at Fangtasia, he'd make the necessary arrangements for that vampire to meet with an accident. No one touched Sookie.

And she agreed. Gently but firmly, she shot the handsome stranger down. Eric smirked, seeing his failed glamor attempt. He was grateful that his fairy could not be influenced that way. Being so irresistible to his kind, she needed all the protection she could get.

He looked down at her now. Her dark eyes simmered with anger, her vulnerable form huddled away from him, slightly frightened of his harsh display. Her fear fueled his lust, making him ache to pull her close, but hee didn't soften. She needed to understand.

"You have no idea, do you?" he accused, his other hand reaching to cup her jaw, a gentleness in it that belied the ferocity of the other in her hair. "Not all of them will ask nicely. The one who did will be punished as it is."

Sookie squinted in surprise. "Punished? The guy on the dance floor? Why?"

Eric fought hard not to say the first thing that came to mind. _You're mine._ Instead, he hedged. "A precedent must be set. In order to protect you."

She huffed and sat backwards, pulling out of his hold. "That's stupid. He wasn't going to do anything. I'm fine," she looked away, biting her lip, looking deliciously hurt. "I don't need you."

In a flash, Eric was seated and Sookie was straddling his lap. She gasped as he gripped her, forcing himself deep between the V of her legs, yanking her forward until their lips were almost touching.

"You don't get it," he whispered. "I _have_ to bite you now. I have to keep you in here, mark you, put my scent all over you, and make it clear that you're mine." He spat the final word with equal parts of lust and disgust. "It's the only way to stop them from attacking you as you leave."

She instantly started struggling. "No!"

He held fast. "Yes," he retorted. "You were foolish to come here."

"Come where?" she spat, still fighting. "Out in public? Around other humans? With my friends?"

"Your friends can't protect you," he pointed out heatedly. His hands continued to hold hers, firm enough to still her, but gentle enough not to bruise. "You _do_ need me, Sookie. No one can care for you as I can."

She cried out in exasperation and went limp in his grip, sitting back on his knees in defeat. Her eyes filled with angry tears as she glared at him. He disliked being their cause.

"So what?" she asked. "What do you suggest? I just become a shut-in? Work from home? Never venture beyond my front porch? Keep my curtains drawn and hope like hell I go unnoticed by other vampires?" She shook her head. "I won't, Eric. I'm not going to spend my entire life afraid. I'll go crazy."

Sookie inhaled sharply when he gripped her elbows and pulled her closer. Her heart slammed into her ribs when his lips found her throat, nuzzling with Eskimo kisses and the open press of his lips. His fangs didn't click. His kiss didn't complete. The nestling of his face against her couldn't be mistaken for anything other than comfort. Her rigid muscles collapsed, her supple body molding into the planes of his chest and legs. She sniffed softly.

He held her like that for several minutes. Sookie just let her head fall onto his shoulder and let him. God, she was so tired of all of this. Why in God's name couldn't anything be easy for her? Her chest quivered as she stifled her tearful convulsions.

Eric nosed gently into her ear. "Don't cry, lover. I can't bear it when you cry."

She sniffed anyway. "What do you want from me, Eric? I mean really. Tell me exactly what you want."

_Blood. Sex. Smiles. Heat. Obsession. Desire. Need. Greed. _

His list exploded through his mind so quickly he had trouble keeping up with it. Sookie pulled back and looked him earnestly, wiping her eyes quickly with her fingertips. How could he explain? He'd seen these things in her before, only not for him. _  
><em>

He'd heard her heartbeat increase whenever she saw her former lover. He sensed her pleasure at his presense, just as he'd seen her agony at his abduction. She'd shared the other vampire's bed every night, or would have, had he allowed her to stay with him. She'd offered herself, her life, her blood, her happiness. Eric knew she was capable. He answered her the only way he knew how.

"I want what you gave Bill," he said at last.

Sookie shook her head, not understanding. "I gave Bill my heart. I loved him." She paused when her answer met with his expectant silence. Eric merely stared. He did not correct her.

She sat back a little further. "Is that what you're asking? You want me to _love_ you?"

Eric's jaw set hard. He didn't move.

"But..." she stuttered, her eyes huge with disbelief. "You don't care about love. Don't even understand it. That's what you told me, remember?"

"I remember perfectly what I told you."

"But you still want it?" she asked timidly. "You want my love?"

His silence stretched for several seconds before he broke it. "Yes."

Sookie fell backwards, snorting loudly. "Why? To stroke your ego? You won't take less than what I gave Bill, even if it's something you're uninterested in?"

"Ego doesn't motivate me."

"Pride, then. Or boredom. Something motivates you, Eric. Why else would you want my heart?"

Eric looked away. He wished he knew. It wasn't for any of the reasons she'd listed, but he couldn't identify why it was so important for Sookie to care for him with the same degree of devotion he'd seen her lavish on Bill. All he knew was that there was a sucking, aching hole in his chest where his heart and lungs used to be. He hadn't needed them for a thousand years, yet now he felt breathless. Like he suddenly needed air again. Needed blood to pump through his body again.

"I want your heart," he rasped darkly, "because you've stolen mine. I demand you replace it with your own."

Her mouth dropped slightly at his admission. "But I didn't -,"

"You did," he cut her off. "You took it from me. Now when I imagine us, I don't simply fuck you. Or taste you. I hold you. I pet you. I desire your affection and feel pleasure when you grant it." His explanation came in slow, uncertain halts. "Sookie," he looked at her, "I need your love. My chest feels crushed without it."

She didn't move. Were it not for her blinking eyes, she could well have been a statue. He couldn't be serious. Unconsciously, Sookie moved in close and put her hand on his cheek, looking for the physical contact that always gave her so much more clarity with human minds. She heard nothing. Naturally. It didn't stop her from drilling him with her warm brown eyes, diving headlong into his glacial stare, wordlessly demanding if he was sincere.

His gaze flickered slightly at the feel of her warmth against his face. The house music, though muted by the thick curtains, was still too loud for her to pick up the soothed purr that emanated from his body, but she felt it vibrating softly against the length of their pressed bodies. She bit her lips to hide her pleasure as she continued to gape in disbelief.

Finally, she whispered. "I'm going to ask you a question. If you lie to me...or bullshit me...I'm going to walk out onto the dance floor, grab the first vampire I detect," she tapped her temple, "and let him bite me in front of everyone. Got it?"

Eric's purr went choppy, his more violent growl taking over. He didn't speak.

Sookie nodded with approval. He wasn't arguing. Her other hand came to rest on his cheek, holding his face in the cup of her palms. He couldn't escape when she asked, "Are you in love with me?"

Eric flinched beneath her. Sookie held her breath and held his gaze, even though the desire to look away was overwhelming. As always, his face betrayed nothing. If anything, it went even stonier. She felt the ropes of his jaw muscles saw back and forth under her hands. She kept her face soft and seeking, sweeping her thumbs briefly under his eyes, as if they could coax him to speak.

"There's a snowball's chance in hell that I'll agree to be yours, Eric. But the only way it's ever going to happen is if you tell me the truth."

Her fingertips traced the soft skin of his ears without her even noticing. Being so close to him, she saw the indigo flecks scattered in his otherwise sky blue eyes. Was it really possible that these cold eyes felt love when they looked at her?

Eric also noted that Sookie's eyes swirled with several shades of rich chocolate. He felt naked under their scrutiny, as if her telepathic talents had suddenly found a way into his mind. Indignation bubbled hotly within him. His own emotions weren't important. Only his needs. Only his desires. Humans had no right to ask such things. Sookie had no right. Just as she had no right to threaten him with the prospect of her offering herself to another vampire. The thought of another's mark on her maddened him worse than anything he had ever experienced. But she meant it. Looking at her now, he knew she'd get up and go do something stupid, just to prove her trivial point.

Sookie sensed his indecision. Feeling desperate and exposed, she prodded softly, "You once said you disliked being touched. When you imagine us together, am I strung up in your basement? Naked and chained while you pound out your frustration?"

She had hated what she'd seen when she'd walked in on Eric fucking Yvetta, not only because it had tickled a very small jealous bone, but also because Sookie had saddened at Eric's notion of making love. What she'd seen was cold and objectifying. He could have been fucking a side of beef hung in a slaughterhouse, for all the sweetness she'd felt from him that night. It had bruised her already blue heart.

Eric's eyes snapped at the question. "Never," he gritted fiercely.

She waited. "What do you imagine?"

On the subject of sex, Eric was suddenly much more loquacious. "You're in my bed," he said immediately. "Or yours. Or my cubby. I spend hours learning every inch of you. And I demand you do the same to me. After we've made love the entire night, you fall asleep next to me. I despise the thought of you leaving my bed, so I forbid it. You stay in my arms. When I buy you gifts, you're pleased with them. You allow me to spoil you. And when you're feeling especially grateful," his fangs ran down, "you drop to your knees and show me how happy I've made you."

Sookie inhaled slowly. That certainly was in keeping with a man in love. She felt compelled to keep prodding. "Do you always heal your feeding marks? Like me and the woman in the booth just now?"

Two cool hands tugged her even closer to him, cupping her hips in a steely grasp. "Never," he repeated. "I do not heal my meals, Sookie, nor did I do so tonight."

"She didn't have a bite mark."

"That's because I didn't taste her, lover."

She tightened her grip on his head. God alive, she wished more than ever she could read his mind. "Why not?"

He snorted like the answer should be obvious. "I didn't want her. I don't want any of them."

"Then what the hell have you been eating these three days?"

Resentment flashed across his face. More questions that had no right being asked. "I have not fed."

And there it was.

The air in the curtained space felt humid and stifling. The light was too dim. Eric's body felt too cool and comfortable. Sookie's body felt too soft and sweet. Sookie noticed that his hands fit the curve of her hips perfectly, as if he'd been made just to hold her. Eric pulled a long breath through his nose, inhaling the essence of vampire temptation as she stared at him from her perch on his legs.

Sookie considered long and hard. This was getting ridiculous.

He wanted sex. Okay. He wanted blood. No duh. But the other stuff? The stuff that had her heart leaping in her chest like a panicked bird? She didn't know what to say. He wanted her touch, despite his claim otherwise. He wanted her company, despite his blatant preference for solitude. And, against everything she understood about his character, he seemed to be unintentionally exclusive to her.

An answer came to her, so soft and watery that it barely made itself known over the oily heat of the club. Sookie made a decision. It scared her to death, but as far as she could see, it was the only option that satisfied her fears and her desires. She held her head high. Eric followed the line of her jaw, noticing her change in posture. The flicker in his eyes asked her silently for her thoughts.

She didn't answer. Instead, she brought his face to the hallow of her throat.

"Drink, please," she said softly.

"No," he replied instantly. "I won't cheapen this by tasting you here."

She could hear his disgust for their surroundings and melted a little. He clearly valued their intimacy, even though he hadn't eaten in three days and was probably ravenous. In this new position, she leaned into him, her hands sliding over his shoulders and arms in a way they hadn't done since their kiss in his office over a year ago.

"I've missed you," she admitted, swallowing her pride. "I've missed this. Please drink from me. Show me that you've missed it, too."

Eric wasn't sure what to make of her sudden change in tactics. All he knew was that it drove him crazy. Her acceptance of him had turned her body into the sleek puzzle piece he knew it would be, filling into him with a perfection he would have never believed existed. Her scent surrounded him, her pulse ticking away just under his mouth. As usual, she was willing, but this time she appeared to be offering something else besides food to him. He didn't dare question what it might be, he simply took it.

Wrapping his arms around her back, he eased her forward until she was almost laying across his entire front. Once they were nearly prone on the sofa, his feet planted firmly on the floor, he tugged her ponytail, flipping it playfully away from his target. He licked a slow, wet line from her shoulder to her ear. The coolness of his saliva made her moan softly. God, he felt so fucking good.

Her moan increased in volume when he bit down. Sookie strained downwards, pitching into any of him she could reach.

Gently, she opened another button of his shirt, her hands trespassing onto his skin. They slid around to his nape, toying with the soft, short hair. More coolness met her hands, a delicious contrast to the hot, sticky air around her. With hesitant strokes, she began to tease her fingers through his hair. He dreamt of her touching him. It was time to find out how.

"Like this?"

He grunted in approval, burrowing deeper into her throat.

Sookie nodded carefully, not letting her movement upset his latch on her. With quivering nerves, she slowly slid her knees back and forth on either side of his hips, creating a slow drag in friction that provoked his grip, turning it even more possessive and sexual around her back.

"Like this?" she whispered.

He was growing warm again. More than that, he was growing hard. His erection pressed hotly between her thighs, straining to reach her through two sets of clothes. Sookie knew she was no better off. She'd been wet since the moment she'd seen him across the dance floor. She'd hated to think that he'd known she wanted him the entire time they'd been fighting, but now, she gently opened her legs wider around him, hoping the scent of her reached his unnaturally keen nose. There was no point hiding it. Might as well advertise.

With a final, steeling breath, Sookie pressed a light kiss into the rim of his ear and whispered, "I don't know either, Eric. I don't know if I could love you."

The suction at her throat stopped.

She waited for him to disengage and start another heated discussion. She felt his urge to do so. But he didn't. Instead, his nursing resumed, pulling long, deep drags of her into himself.

Her hands never stilled, stroking deep into his hair, communicating her acceptance and her pleasure. A stray strand tickled her nose slightly. Facing him while feeding was certainly more personal. She knew this was how they would spend their final session together when he came to collect number five. She knew this, because of her decision.

"Next time," she whispered. "Next time you come to me...the last time you feed? I..." she swallowed again, her voice suddenly failing her. "I need to find out. I...want...I want to make love to you."

The suction stopped and broke entirely.

Eric took a ragged, unneeded gasp of air. It was a wet sound, drenched in blood. He immediately latched to her again to stop the flow, swiping the marks to staunch them. Grabbing her shoulders, he yanked her away from his ear.

"What?"

Blood covered his lips and teeth as he bared them menacingly at her. She didn't flinch, her face still soft and her eyes wide. "I'm tired of fighting this, Eric. Of fighting you. Aren't you tired, too? Tired of pretending that I'm an exotic pet that you're fond of? Like a lion fish or a sugar baby or something? Don't you think it's time we try something a little more meaningful?"

"And you believe this meaningful step should be sex?"

"Well," she looked down humbly. "It would certainly be meaningful to me." She paused and looked at him, those warm eyes chipping at his precious control. "Would making love to me not mean anything to you? Is sex just fucking, no matter who?"

Eric growled and bucked up into her in pure masculine answer to her question. "It would mean a great deal, Sookie. You know it would."

She shivered slightly, hope battling wildly against doubt. "Then you agree?"

"To make love to you as I taste you? Did you honestly expect a no?"

"No," she blushed and kept her eyes down. "But I mean it, Eric. I want you to answer me honestly afterwards. Tell me how you feel. I'll...I'll do the same. If it's more than just blood and lust between us..." she bit her lips, "...then I think we need to rethink our relationship."

Eric reached out and tipped her chin, bringing her eyes up. It took everything he had not to collect her offer right there on the club sofa. "And if there's more?" he pressed. "If we make love and decide we cannot be apart?"

She knew what he wanted to hear. Leave it to a vampire to boil it down to the nuts and bolts. "Then you win. I'll agree to be yours. Only yours."

Sookie shrieked as she was pulled down with a vampire's speed, Eric buried deep in her neck. She gasped when she felt his fang slice his tongue, which he then ran across her bite mark. His hands, which had barely been civil for the last week, were suddenly unchained, moving over her body with a sensual indecency that had her whimpering against his cheek.

"Tomorrow," he demanded hotly. "Tomorrow, and make no mistake, Sookie...I'm coming for you."

She nodded weakly. "Okay."

He pulled back, his bite gone from her throat. He shook her gently, insisting she heed every word. "By the end of the night, lover, you'll never want to leave my side again."


	5. Satiation

**A/N: **I asked for 200 reviews, I got over 250. You guys are crazy-sweet. I was going to answer them all, but realized I had little time to write, so I figured I'd just can the gratitude and finish the story. We all know that's why you're here. And! If you give that many for this final chappie, I'll write ANOTHER short that's been wandering around in my noodle. After all, every time you don't believe in reviews, a fairy working as a waitress in a TGI Friday's somewhere falls down dead.

**Satiation**

She didn't have work the next day.

Sookie had mixed feelings about this, as she loved her days off, but didn't relish the prospect of being home all day with her thoughts. Her naked, sexy thoughts.

Dammit.

And she didn't even have her usual fallback of cleaning her house to occupy her hands. Thanks to Eric, the place was spotless. Gran herself would have looked around with owlish astonishment at how the well-worn surfaces sparkled and gleamed for the first time in decades. Sookie instantly felt annoyed at him again, for making her dead Gran feel deficient at cleaning her own house. Poor Gran. Stupid Eric.

So instead, Sookie sat in front of the tv watching daytime garbage. Ugh. She gave Maury a glance. Then reruns of Geraldo. Then the Oxygen network. (Who watched that trash?) Then finally settled on the local craft channel. Some sweet old biddy was walking her through the finer points of making a gourd birdhouse when a knock on her door made her jump.

_Eric_, her mind leapt to his name with forbidden excitement.

Her rational side roared with anger. "Shut up," she told herself out loud as she got up and headed to the entryway. It wasn't even two o'clock in the afternoon. He wasn't about to waltz through there in the middle of the day. And even if he did, she wasn't about to get all feverish about it. It was just Eric. She'd seen him a million times before. It was nothing new.

_Except the next time, he's going to tear all your clothes off and fuck you blind. _

"Shut up!" she said just as she opened the door.

The man on the other side flinched at her sudden appearance and shout. Sookie's eyes widened at her own shocking rudeness. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry. I w-was... talking to someone else."

She noticed the pelican ballcap over the messy brown hair and realized it was the same man who'd delivered the deed to her house at Merlotte's. She smiled automatically. "Hello again."

The man simply blinked. There was no recognition in his stare as her held out a package and his electronic pad. "Pelican Couriers," he parroted to her, totally oblivious. "Sign here, please."

Sookie took the pad and signed her name, wondering if the man ever said anything else in his eight-hour work day. He took it back and handed her the small parcel. "Nice day."

"You too," she said to his already-retreating form. He was off her porch and into his truck before she'd shut her front door.

How can anyone grow up in the South and behave that rudely? Sookie shook her head. Lord, she'd never know. Even Jason, who had shiny rocks for brains, would have tipped his hat, smiled and called her ma'am. There was just no good excuse.

Sookie looked down at the package in her hands as she walked back into the living room and sat down in front of her hobby show.

A box. A plain, smooth black box. About twelve-by-twelve inches and only an inch deep. There was no address on the outside and no indication of the sender. Like she needed one. This box was obviously from _him_. And she had a good idea of what it was.

Sookie snorted in anger at its small, lingerie-esque size.

God only knew what he'd sent for her to wear. Probably a leather thong, or leapard-print handcuffs, or whatever. She pulled off the snug lid and tossed it on the floor. Instead of finding tissue paper and naughty undies, Sookie found herself staring at loose packets of rectangular paper. She picked them up and fanned them out in her hands.

Plane tickets.

Dozens of them. Two first class on Anubis Air going to a dizzying number of cities. Cairo. New York. Paris. Tokyo. Berlin. Sydney. Rio de Janiero. Prague. Bangkok. Moscow. Stockholm. A familiar piece of white paper was attached to the top ticket, the one for Istanbul. Eric consoled her through the elaborate flick of his pen.

_You'll never be a shut-in. I'll show you anything. Everything. _

_~E_

The tickets fell from her shaking hands.

Sookie took a deep breath. For a girl who'd never left her tiny hometown, she felt lightheaded at the idea of seeing these exotic places that she'd only read about in books and seen in movies. Random cities, too. She was sure she only had to ask, and Eric would change them to any destination she liked. Maybe somewhere in Italy or Spain. She'd always liked the idea of them. Not that she'd turn down any of the places he'd chosen. She had no concept of them. Hell, she didn't even have a passport.

Slowly, she bent over and started picking up the tickets, one by one, and setting them back in the box. Ever the organizer, she carefully mated the twin tickets together before stacking them in a tidy pile.

Sometimes - just sometimes - it felt like Eric owned the whole world.

She set the box on the coffee table. Her mind whispered treachery as her fingers caressed its corners. _Run away with him_, it cooed. _Make love to him on every continent. Hold him close every night and moan as he drinks from you. Forget if you love him. Just lust him. Have fun. Make it easy for him. He's tried so hard to win you_.

It would be so easy. Ridiculously easy. He was so handsome, so rich, so persuasive. Girls did it every day, right? Give into one-night stands? And adultery? Total strangers in bars who smiled sweet and bought the drinks?

Sookie shivered. Yes. Giving into Eric would be easy. Surely a million women had succumbed to his charms, and with zero hesitation. She settled back into her sofa, her head tipping up along the back. Her little silver (lead) buddies greeted her from the ceiling, floating placidly, as if waiting for the roof to vanish so they could continue their trip to the stratosphere.

Eric plus Sookie. Lead Balloon Forever.

Easy. Yeah, right.

Sookie knew damn well that making love to Eric tonight would be anything but easy. Touching him like she wanted to. Kissing him like she wanted to. She had only given in once before and the result had nearly made her lose her mind. Eric's lips had haunted her ever since, even chasing her into her dreams. The way he'd swooped in and just taken what he'd wanted. The way he'd held her face and pressed his mouth to hers again and again. The way he tasted different from the few other men she'd kissed. The way he moved different. The way she had to fight upwards to get to him, climbing him like a damn tree and nearly shrieking with pleasure when he lowered, fighting to get to _her_.

She was worried. Very worried. Once she gave into him again, it was a real possibility that she wouldn't want to come back.

Grunting with exasperation, she jumped off the sofa, grabbed her house keys and headed for the door.

She needed a walk.

E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S~E~S

Eric blinked awake the moment the sun slipped below the horizon.

The first thing he noticed was the sweet, clean narcotic that was Sookie's blood coursing through his system. It had been a little over a week, and since he'd eaten no one else, she shimmered and laughed in his blood without any dilution. He closed his eyes briefly, letting the sensation wash over him.

To think that he'd once mocked Bill Compton for being exclusive to her.

Eric understood now. To drink Sookie was to... He didn't even know. He had no comparison. Not even his turning had been this transforming.

But she was more than merely transforming.

Again, he was at a loss for an explanation, even though he knew the facts about her. After spending a millenium of drinking humans - of smelling their body odor and tasting their poor health and disease - this little girl had crossed his path. One that was devoid of the smell of sweat and the slow decay that eventually drove all humans into the ground. That alone made her priceless. It was extremely pleasant to taste a human free from the olfactory reminders of death. But there were... other considerations. The kittenish sound of her voice, even when she was yelling at him. The fact that she yelled at him in the first place. The arch of her brow, the one that made her look impish, even when the rest of her face was the picture of innocence. The slender set of her shoulders and the flare of her hips. The way she moved. The way she smiled. Even the little gap between her teeth made him ache to bare his throat to her and let her mark him a dozen times, even if they disappeared instantly.

All of these factors were clouding his judgment. He couldn't seem to see beyond her.

And now, tonight, she was going to be his.

The thought propelled him from his sleeping place and launched him into the night sky.

_Yes_, he purred inwardly. _Mine. Her body wrapped around me. The scrape of her little gold earrings under my tongue as I suck her lobe into my mouth. The way she'll gasp my name when I slide into her again and again and again. __I'm going to part those dimpled knees and burn between them for hours. __I'll take her in every room, on every surface, until the sun threatens to kill me in her bed_.

The inevitability of them made him roar.

After all of this time. First watching her with Bill, then for an entire year when she disappeared without a trace. Eric wasn't sure which situation had made him crazier. Another vampire's scent on her had always left him with a bad taste in his mouth. Then again, not smelling her at all for a year had destabilized him somewhat. After he'd bought her home, he'd disgusted himself with how many times he'd entered it, wandering through the ruined hallways, squatting low in her dark bedroom, inhaling over and over, furious that with each inhalation, her scent grew fainter. It was like even the house was forgetting her. It enraged him. It had taken a lot of resolve on his part to begin the renovations. The need to have her home ready for her if (no, _when_) she got home was more important than preserving her scent, which paint and wood stain would obliterate.

When she'd returned, soft and sweet and naked from her shower, it had taken every ounce of restraint not to take her right there on her floor. Bill might choose to be a fucking idiot and allow her to leave his life, ever the martyred gentleman, but Eric was hell-bent on keeping her in his. Sookie was made to be a vampire's companion. He was through waiting in line, biding his time, giving her space.

Bon Temps was just ahead. He shot forward.

Waiting. Biding. Giving. He was fucking done.

Above the trees of her home, he saw her walking up to her front door, the porch light bouncing softly off of her golden head. She was in a pale blue sundress and bare feet. She smelled like the forest in the summertime. And even from his bird's eye view, he could sense the soft, thoughtful set of her features.

Yes. He was going to eat her alive.

She was just about to open her door when Eric shot down from the sky and snatched her.

Sookie yelped in fear as she was grabbed from behind. An impossibly strong arm banded around her waist. A rough hand buried itself in her loose hair and tugged her head to one side. A void mind thought nothing but static at her.

"No!" she gasped raggedly. Oh, God. It had actually happened. A vampire had found her. It had waited for her to come out of her house, then pounced on her. She was dead. Dead dead dead dead.

Her panicked mind reached out for Eric as she clawed for the door. _Help me!_ She cried out through their weak bond. _Help me, baby. Please! They're going to kill me!_

A cold nose burrowed between her shoulder and her ear and inhaled hard and deep.

"No," a scratchy voice answered. "You're safe. It's me."

Eric felt her fear ease instantly.

"Eric?"

His hand at her waist went flat against her stomach. He inhaled again, letting his lips press against the warm, sweet skin at her pulse. He was going to do much more tonight. He saw no reason to hold back now.

She shivered and plucked at his fingers on her stomach, halfheartedly trying to pull them away. "You s-scared me."

He grunted, but said nothing, opening his mouth against her and tonguing her just beneath her ear. Over her head, he pushed her door open and walked them haltingly inside.

Sookie laughed nervously, trying to disengage and look at him over her shoulder. "Eager, are we?"

"I only have eleven hours."

She huffed again, noticing that he wasn't letting her go, not even to turn around in his arms. "Exactly. Why don't you take off your coat and stay awhile? There's no hurry."

Eric pulled away from her throat and turned her around himself. The pink blush on her cheeks and her downturned eyes told him that she was embarrassed. He cupped her face. "Are you offering me a beer, lover? Want us to cuddle on the sofa while we watch a movie?"

Sookie's eyes widened when he hands slid down her body and cupped her ass through her dress, grinding her into the brick of his thighs and abdomen. He lowered. God, it was hard to pay attention when he lowered like that.

"There's only one thing I want. And I want it now."

Sookie's cheeks grew even redder. He wouldn't let her look down, so she closed her eyes, blocking him out. "I know that."

The shaky, soft quality of her voice made him pull away slightly. "Have you changed your mind?"

Her heart smacked against her ribs at his question. Her eyes darted to meet his again. "No! No...I just..."

Her whole body felt flustered when he smirked at her answer. She swallowed and tried to finish. "No, I haven't changed my mind. It's just that..."

His brow quirked upwards, waiting. Sookie let her fingers follow a hesitant path up his biceps, letting them settle lightly on his shoulders, holding him as he held her.

"Just what, Sookie?" Eric wasn't sure he'd be able to restrain himself long enough to let her answer. The color of her blush, her demur behavior, they made his mouth and groin tingle with the need for penetration.

She bit her lip. "I'm not very experienced at this, Eric. You're only my... my second."

He stilled. "Second vampire."

She shook her head. "Second anything."

Eric didn't respond. Nor did he move a muscle. Sookie stood in his arms and waited nervously.

"You gave him your virginity."

Sookie tried to pull away, embarrassed again. The conversation had taken a very personal, humiliating turn. "Yes. I suppose I can't give you _everything_ I gave Bill."

She tried to retreat, but Eric snatched her up again, pressing their fronts against each other. He held her face. "Quiet," he cooed softly, tracing her hairline. Sookie closed her eyes, leaning into the caress against her will. "I marvel at being your second," he whispered. "And also at being your last."

Sookie jerked back. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves," she snorted softly.

"I'm not," he answered, staring her down her turning her iron will into tepid mush. His index finger landed lightly on the tip of her nose. Sookie smiled. He smiled back. "I won't push hard, if you don't want me to. I'll accept your beer and sit quietly on the sofa with you."

Sookie smile widened and she shook her head, taking his hand. Leading him up the stairs, she chortled. "What would you do with a beer, exactly?"

He followed, taking stealthy steps behind her naked little heels. "Watch it go flat in my hand. Show you that I'm willing to pretend in order to make you comfortable."

He watched her hair dance over her shoulders as she shook her head again. "The last thing I want is more pretending, Eric. It's just another kind of lying."

She paused in the door frame of her bedroom. Eric looked in over her head at her modest, well-made queen bed. He lowered to her ear again. "No lies, then. I want to destroy this room. I want you underneath me when the bed collapses. I want to fuck you against this door until the hinges buckle." He slid a single finger down the frame as she watched from the corner of her eye. "I want the floorboards to groan as you ride me like you never want to stop. Sookie," he rubbed her hips as she moaned at his words, "know that I've never been more honest in my life when I tell you that I want you. Eleven hours is nothing."

Sookie turned. In the dark, his light skin gleamed in the moonlight. It didn't even occur to her to turn on the lights. She inhaled shakily. She took one step backwards. Into her room.

"Come' ere."

Eric cocked his head. He didn't move.

Sookie took another step back. She crooked her finger. "Come. Here."

Eric took one step. It equaled her two with no trouble and he stood directly in front of her. Trembling, she reached up to him, touching his face with the tips of her fingers. He didn't blink, staring directly into her eyes.

Watching her fingers, she spoke. "No lies, then. I...I...love how you kiss me."

"I've only kissed you once."

"I remember."

He continued to skewer her with his gaze. "No lies. I kissed you, then the next night you vanished. Do you have any idea how mad you drove me when you left?"

"Hm. Are you saying you missed me?"

Silence.

This close to him, she could feel his anger radiating between their pressed forms. Where Bill had given up and mourned her, Eric had agonized and lived in cruel hope. He was furious at her. He _had_ missed her. She wondered if he'd relived that kiss for twelve whole months, wondering if he'd ever get another. Sookie nodded, then to both of their surprise, stood delicately on tiptoe and tilted her chin.

She pressed her lips to his.

At first, he did nothing. After such a violent assault in his office, he stood stone-still as the little fairy explored the shape of his lips, her tongue making soft, warm swipes against them.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, her eyes slipping closed, nudging gently against his mouth. "You may not believe me, but I didn't mean to leave."

Two rough hands gripped her upper arms, making her gasp. Eric's kiss came alive against hers, his tongue plunging into her mouth and plumbing it softly. They attacked each other. Sookie felt how much he'd missed her though his jeans. Eric heard her excitement with each breathy little moan.

"Give me something," he demanded quietly, running his hands up and down her. "As recompense for your leaving me."

"What?" she asked.

"A secret," he suggested. "No lies now. Tell me something about you that no one else knows."

She was quiet for a moment, simply arching into his hands like a kitten and returning his kiss over and over.

She plunged her fingers into his hair. "The...water," she whimpered against him. "I'm afraid of the water. I can't swim. Even pictures of the ocean scare me."

He growled low. The vibrations filled her mouth and made her light-headed. "You'll learn," he promised her darkly. "When I take you to Rio, I'll rent an entire beach for you. I'll teach you to swim. You'll never be afraid again."

The plane tickets. She made a mental note to tell him later that she was flattered, but wasn't sure about the whole whirlwind tour idea. Sookie shivered in his hands, pulling him further into the room.

"Don't sharks hunt at night?" she pointed out.

"I'll kill all the sea monsters. The ocean will be as safe as a kiddie pool for you."

She linked her forearms behind his head, dragging him even closer.

"Tell me," she entreated, nearing the bed. "Tell me a secret. Something no one knows."

He pulled back and thumbed longingly under her eyes. "Another kind of water distresses me, lover." He leaned down and kissed the soft skin just below her lashes. "Your tears bother me. Like nothing else before."

Sookie smiled under his lips. "Then don't make me cry, Eric."

"Never."

Her smiled widened. His thumb ran between her parted lips, following the line of her teeth. He looked absolutely fascinated. She supposed it was normal. She'd read somewhere that Vikings had been fanatical mapmakers. Maybe this was him learning the topography of her face, memorizing every line. Gently, she sucked the digit deeper into her mouth, laving it with her velvety tongue. His eyes went glassy at the sensation.

She tugged at his dark t-shirt. "Take off your clothes."

He grabbed the hem and arched out of it in a blink, tossing it aside. He yanked her against him. Her palms magnetically found his pecs, stroking them appreciatively. He tugged her dress down, leaving her in her underwear.

Her arms instinctively moved inwards, wanting to cover herself. This man had seen thousands of perfect women. She knew she was a far cry from busty, or tall, or elegant. He stopped her, hissing in disapproval.

"Let me see you."

"You can," she argued quietly. "I'm just-,"

She gasped when he fisted in her hair and jerked her head to one side, his other hand tracing her clavicles. His eyes were plain eating her up.

"These," he purred to the wing-like bones, "are lovely. Very graceful."

Without warning, he tore her plain white bra away. Sookie startled, taking a step back, the backs of her knees hitting her mattress. His hands closed over the warm, throbbing swells.

"And these," he squeezed gently, making her gasp, "are fucking exquisite. Once you agree to be mine, I'll spend entire nights sucking them raw."

"Oh, God," she whimpered, jerking her head to the side, her eyes running from his. But there was no escaping his voice.

"Have you ever come that way, lover? I can tell by your heart rate how sensitive they are." He massaged her nipples, making them peak and hardened into pearls.

The very thought made her thighs clench together, desperate to contain the wetness she felt pooling there. She'd barely been touched, and yet she'd _never_ been touched like this. "No."

He inhaled sharply and growled. "You will," he promised. "I'll make you come every way there is."

Sookie, furious at herself for trembling and nearly fainting at his dark, sexy words, let Fairy Sookie speak. "You promise?"

At that, he grinned like a rabid wolf. "Oh, little girl. You have no fucking idea what's in store for you."

He shot forward and buried his nose in her throat again. "You smell so good when you want me," he goaded, shoving her backward onto the bed. Sookie fell, her ass bouncing as she shrieked playfully and scurried back, grinning.

He slowly opened his belt and unzipped his pants, daring her to watch. "You smell that good everywhere?"

Her eyes sparked. "No idea."

Eric shucked out of his jeans. Naked and beautiful, Sookie took a long, steadying breath as she stared at what was waiting for her. His cock was granite hard, throbbing angrily under her gaze. He watched as her lips parted slightly, the tip of her tongue wetting them and making him even harder.

"It's for you," he hissed. "Ever since we met, no matter who I was with, this was for you."

"I...uh..." Sookie swallowed, unable to look away. "I...Can I have it, then?"

He knuckled onto the mattress, grabbing her calves and yanking her towards him. "Such pretty legs," he mused as he slid his rough hands up their silky lengths. His fingers reached the fragile border of her panties, trespassing just underneath them.

"You still certain you want it? I said wanted to destroy everything in this room," he looked up at her. "Starting with your tight little pussy."

The halting, whimpering sound she made only spurred him on.

"Yes," she whispered. "I want it... you, I mean. Want you."

Her panties were torn off in an instant. She was buck naked under the most powerful man in the southern states. Sookie watched in modest horror as he dove headfirst between her thighs and drew a frighteningly deep breath. She tried to close her legs against his visceral exploration.

"_No_," he plastered her thighs wide open and took a long, wet lick across her entire length. She cried out in pleasure.

"No, Eric-," she protested weakly, trying to escape.

"Holy _fuck_," he backed up and ran his tongue along the roof of his mouth, processing her taste in utter disbelief. "You _cannot_ taste this good, lover. It isn't possible."

"I don't," she replied, appalled and amazed at the look on his face as he lowered again to scent her most private area. Again, she tried to pull out of his grasp.

"Mine!" he spat at her, clutching her legs and licking her up again, sending cool, devastating bolts of electricity through her. She spasmed beneath him, arching into his mouth against her will.

"Please." Sookie wasn't sure if she was asking for more or begging him to stop. Eric chose the first, his lips sealing over her clit and sucking it without mercy. Sookie flailed and sobbed against the unexpected ecstasy that shot up her spine.

"Your cunt is Heaven," he growled, peppering it with adoring kisses. "I knew it would be." And he had. Just not to this degree. He'd always been able to smell her sex and knew it would be delicious, but this was ridiculous. She was... just... he had no word. Addictive, he supposed. He dove into her searing flesh, tonguing every last drop as she readied for him.

Sookie's body overtook her mouth and made it speak without her. "Make me come, baby."

His growl grew impossibly loud with pleasure as he complied, spearing two fingers knuckle-deep into her tight, wet core and pressing into the trembling nerves there. His tongue battered her poor little clit and Sookie screamed, unable to take the stimulation. She fell into her orgasm, crying his name, black spots detonating in her vision. The second man she'd taken to bed crawled up her shivering body and looked into her eyes with accusation.

"Your cream tastes just as good as your blood." His words sounded like blame.

Oh, yeah? Well, two can play at that game. "W-what about you? What do you taste like?"

The question provoked the thin bond between them, making it pulse with need.

"Sssssookie," he warned quietly. "Don't play with me."

"I like playing."

"You know perfectly well that vampires do not emit."

Sookie shimmied her naked body beneath his, getting lower, level with his chest. "That a fact?" There was no way in hell she was just going to lie there quietly and let Eric blow her brains out. This wasn't just about him collecting a trophy. She wanted him every bit as much. It was time to show him so. She flattened her tongue and ran it wetly from his sternum to his throat. Eric hissed, tilting his head back, his fangs clicking, unable to stay hidden any longer. Sookie moaned softly. Oh, no. He was very much mistaken.

"You know what you remind me of?" she crooned against the notch between his collarbones. "When it's boiling hot outside and I desperately need ice water. I run into the house and pour myself a huge cupful, with with so much ice, there's hardly any room for anything else. I need it so bad... I actually lick the sweat collecting on the glass. That sweat is even better than the water in the cup." She rolled her tongue in the notch and made him rumble with pleasure. "You taste like those drops of water. Like liquid ice when it's so hot I can't even think."

"Are you too hot now, lover?"

She reached between their straining forms and fisted him. Hard. Sookie gasped. Her fingers barely fit around him. Eric growled in a language she didn't understand. She loved when he did that. She tightened her hold and was rewarded with more foreign praise. Gently, she brought his tip to her outer folds, skimming them together.

"Can't you tell?" she whimpered. "Can't you feel how bad I need something cold?"

Eric dragged her back up to his face. His fists were buried in her hair, keeping her head firmly on the pillow. He glared at her. "I'm going to fuck you, Sookie Stackhouse," he outlined sternly. "Then I'm going to drink you. And then you're going to drink me. And from tonight on, you're going to be _mine_."

Sookie arched into his crude, possessive assumption and pressed him slowly inside of her aching core. "Let's just start with the first one."

She moaned in the sexiest voice imaginable as his huge, cool cock slid all the way to the hilt. "Oh, my God," she murmured, locking her legs tightly around the small of his back.

"Fuck!" he barked, bowing down hard into her body. Heat exploded all around him as a warm-blooded mortal accepted him completely. He grit his teeth against the sheer agony of being gloved so tightly. She felt so good it was obscene. Warm and wet and welcoming him like they'd been apart their whole lives, longing to be reunited in this intimate way. But Sookie was more than mortal. Eric withdrew and plunged again, disbelieving as the same wave of luminous happiness met his downstroke for the second time. Micro-ripples hugged his rigid shaft, dancing around it with the tickling dexterity of champagne bubbles. It was otherworldly in pleasure. He'd never felt anything like it. He grunted and swore loudly. "What the fuck are you _doing_ to me?" he accused.

Not understanding, Sookie immediately reached up and framed his face, her pleasured expression dimming with worry. "Wha..why? What's wrong?" She paused, her face blanching. "Am I doing something wrong? Oh God, I am, aren't I? This was a mistake, I knew it, I-,"

She screamed as Eric grabbed her wrists and slammed them down on the mattress. Her eyes grew round as he loomed down, drilling her with a frightening stare that she'd never seen on him before. He looked deranged.

Fighting himself for control, Eric tried to soften as best he could. He could not afford to scare her. "Ssshhhh," he shook his head, several strands of blonde hair bouncing with the motion. His hips retreated and lunged again, filling her up. Sookie's eyes fluttered, her spine arching towards him, begging for more. "No mistake," he grunted, setting a careful pace.

Sookie bit her lip, her fingers lacing shyly through his on either side of her. "No?"

He squeezed her fingers reassuringly before letting her hands go, satisfied that she wouldn't try to uncouple them. "No," he soothed. "You feel... Oh, Sookie... There is no word for you."

A nervous smile flitted over her lips. Her hands pressed sweetly into his back, warming him up as she learned the shape of his body. She sighed happily, lifting up and raining soft kisses down the pale column of his throat. "Okay."

Her legs tightened their hold on him as she rolled her hips in time with his, memorizing his tempo, exploring his larger proportions and how they made her feel delicate and shielded from the rest of the world. He leaned down and kissed her again. She could taste herself on his lips. It was pleasantly clean and inoffensive. Her fingers speared into his hair and she held him in place, her tongue invading the cool recesses of his mouth, moving expertly around his fangs.

She pulled back slightly. "More," she whispered against his lips. "Harder."

"Yes," he gritted, obeying.

The bubbling light shot through his system as Sookie's body yielded to him over and over. The sounds vibrating through his ribcage filled the room as Eric increased his force between her creamy thighs. Before he knew it, he was pounding in earnest, unable and unwilling to slow down. His little fairy loved it, shivering and gasping and making it fucking difficult to stay in control.

But he couldn't control this.

There was only one comparison for it. A sight he'd seen many times without tiring of it, exploded through his mind and he groaned at its splendor. The mere sight of the aurora borealis, the stunning phenomenon of his homeland, paled miserably to experiencing it bodily.

He was making love to that same dancing, dazzling light.

_"Norðrljós," _he hissed at her.

"What?" she looked up dazedly at him.

"I was wrong. There _is_ a word for you," he answered with dark pleasure. "As a man, the only magic I ever witnessed was the Northern Lights. Pieces of sunshine dancing in the night sky." He looked triumphant, like he'd discovered her deepest, darkest secret. "You are that light. You are everything I've lost," he moaned hotly, plunging deeper and growling with pride as Sookie clutched him tighter. "And I've captured you now."

Sookie shook her head. "You already have everything. _Everything_."

"Nothing important," he retorted, taking another dive into her. "I want _Norðrljós_. I want my sunshine at night. I want _you_."

Sookie smiled impishly against his shoulder. "Aurora borealis _happens_ at night," she pointed out. "You can see it whenever you want."

He chuckled, rolling them until they almost fell off the bed. Sookie squealed, giggling as she held him close to keep them from parting. "Little smart mouth," he accused. "Fuck those lights. I. Want. You."

"Hey," she snipped, gripping his forearms and wrestling him back. She delighted at his rumbling laughter as he let her win, allowing himself to be pushed onto his back. She hovered above him, sinking all the way onto his cock and whimpering with pleasure. "I told you. Sex first. Discussion second. Possibly agree to be yours third."

His rough palms cupped her waist, holding her in place as he pumped ruthlessly upward. He bared his fangs at her, wordlessly daring her to ask for soft and sweet. "You _will_ agree, fairy. Every drop of your blood is telling me that you...love...this." He drove up hard with each word.

Sookie moaned and shut her eyes tight. Smug bastard. She grabbed his hand from her hip and drew his index finger to her mouth. He wasn't the only one who could play dirty. "Speaking of blood drops," she purred throatily. "I owe you a condition."

She bit down. Not gently. The skin behind his first knuckle broke beneath her teeth. Eric grunted in angry pleasure, the pain of such a blunt bite throwing spice into his enjoyment. Sookie immediately sucked the thin creek of blood. Light exploded behind her eyes as the ancient, potent elixir tore into her system. Her pleasure turned to unbearable orgasm in a flash. She screamed. Eric roared in ecstasy as her petite body seized and dragged him deeper, squeezing him so tightly that all of his superior vampiric senses failed. Blind, deaf and unable to think, he came viciously hard inside her, his warmed seed spilling deep in its rightful place. Still drinking him in, Sookie's screams turned to breathy, sexy sobs, her hips still rotating and stealing every last drop from her new lover.

With a final moan, she collapsed, burrowing under his chin, shivering.

They said nothing for the longest time. Sookie's heart sang when his arms folded around her back, his hands making long, cool swipes up and down her spine. She closed her eyes and just allowed herself to feel his caress. She barely knew this Eric. He was proving to be gentle and sweet and ruthlessly honest. None of those words had ever described him before. She sighed and decided to let them describe her as well. She placed a soft, soothing kiss on his chest. They lay joined, and she was filled to the brim with his come. There was no reason to hide her affection for him anymore.

"Was it what you expected?" she asked quietly.

"No."

Sookie blinked and said nothing. Eric felt the ticklish flick of her long lashes against his skin. Through their strengthened bond, he felt her insecurity surface. His grip tightened.

"No," he said again, chastising her for taking his answer the wrong way. "I told you before. You are magnificent. Making love to you is unlike anything in the world." He used both hands to cup her head to him, willing his sincerity to her. He smirked when he felt a trail of baby kisses resume on his chest. He'd always known that Sookie would be an affectionate lover. Each kiss left a little pool of warmth and he loathed it as they cooled.

"And what about you?" he goaded playfully. "Was I what you expected?"

Sookie snorted delicately from under his chin. "Fishing for compliments, Lothario? Seriously?"

"I thought we were being honest with each other tonight."

Her lips pursed with bad grace, her eyes rolling. "And I'm honestly pretty sure you know that you're good in bed. That was never my concern."

"Merely good?"

"Oh-kay," she singsonged with strained patience, starting to pull away from his chest. Her hips lifted fractionally away from his and Eric snarled as a single inch of air found its way between them. His hands, which had been gently tracing her ribs, turned to steel in a flash. He tugged her back, resheathing himself in that inch, gripping her ass to make sure she didn't lift again.

"No," he commanded. "Tease me all you like. But do not move."

Sookie, disliking being restrained, wiggled and strained on top of him. Sure, he felt unbelievably good inside her, but he wasn't the boss of her. "Don't tell me what to do," she snipped.

Her wiggling wasn't helping her cause and Eric tightened his hold, arching beneath her, enjoying her movements as they stimulated his cock back to life. Sookie gasped as she felt him harden again. She stopped struggling and undulated against him, making them both moan in unison. Fine. Teasing it is, then.

"My bed is still standing," she noted, swirling him inside her. "So's my door. So's my furniture." She sat up on top of him and looked down haughtily. "You're awfully limp-wristed at wrecking a room."

His eyes went dark at her aspersion. "I can turn this house into a pile a matchsticks within minutes. Never think otherwise."

Her pussy sparkled around him and Eric almost missed her reply. "That the only kind of wood you're good at making?"

Roaring at her audacity, Eric had Sookie across the room and against the door in a flash. Sookie screamed as her body was flayed wide open against the cold plane as he drove up hard into her tight folds.

"_Yes_!" she called out, her head tilting back as he proved what else he was good at.

Eric pistoned deep, howling with pleasure. No woman had ever had the balls to bait him during sex. He would probably have killed them for such offense. But Sookie was not only proving to be an affectionate lover, but a playful one. She knew he was good. Damn good. Now she was testing how good a sport he was.

He looped his elbows under her knees, pressing his hands into the door, splaying her wide and sliding deep. "You think you're so adorable, don't you? Batting your eyes and pissing me off like this?"

Sookie arched her back against the door, pressing into his punishment and cooing wildly. "Don't...stop...oh, God!" She gripped his shoulders so tightly that bloody half-moons formed under her nails.

"You think I can stop? You think I can go a single night without fucking my _adorable_ little fairy and drinking her blood? I'll never stop. She's _mine_!"

Sookie shook the clouds from her eyes and stared at him, wide and blinking. "I'm not-,"

Eric pressed his thumb into her clit and rubbed firmly. Sookie's words turned into a stuttering moan as he successfully shut her up. "Yes, you are," he argued hotly. "My beautiful, insolent, disrespectful little sweetheart."

She cried out, helpless against her desire. She dragged his lips to hers and devoured them. "Shut up," she pleaded, unable to fight his claim when he was making her feel so fuckin' fantastic. "Shut up and just fuck me."

Eric hitched her higher, lifting and lowering her hard onto the skewer of his dick. She made the cutest hiccuping squeak as he sped up. "Yes," she whispered. "I _love_ how you feel in me."

A dark, slithering growl. "Tell me you love _me_."

Sookie murmured, shaking her head, her lips brushing across his with the movement. "No."

"No lies, remember? Tell me right now. Say you love me."

"I can't," she said. "Not like this."

He slammed her between himself and the wall, stilling inside her. She squeaked in disappointment, placing coaxing kisses against his throat, urging him to continue.

"No lies," he hissed angrily. "You asked for this. You brought me into your bed. Now you tell me that I have your heart."

"Eric," she pleaded softly, stroking his neck and shoulders, butting her forehead into the scratchy line of his jaw. "Please. I need you so much. Don't stop."

"Needing me is not enough."

"Why does it matter so much? We can talk about it later, right? Why can't we just enjoy each other?"

He reached up and cupped her cheek, his fingers teasing lightly in her hair. "I refuse to spend all night losing myself to you, only to hear you say it was an interesting experiment and nothing more."

Her kisses froze on his chin. "You think I'm that cold?"

"I think you're that stubborn."

She pulled back, the softness gone from her expression. Her head thumped softly against the door as she took a long, hard look at him. Even like this, wrapped around his body and begging for the best sex of her life, Sookie found it easy to want to slap him. She turned her head to the side. "Bite me," she said.

Eric flinched in her arms. "Not until you answer me."

"I owe you a final payment. I'd like for you to take it now, while we're together like this."

"I won't collect a debt from you ever again, Sookie. From now on, you'll feed me because you love me. Because our sessions feel fucking amazing. Because you enjoy making me strong."

She bit her lip, leaning forward again and nosing under his jaw. "What about the others who feed you? The others who love you?" She knew there were dozens who agreed to nurture him and countless fans who worshiped the ground he walked on. She hated the very thought of them.

He tightened his hold on her. "Fuck everyone else. I only want you."

She swallowed slowly, closing her eyes. "Do I really have your heart, Eric? You said... you said that I did."

He captured her face and made her open her eyes. When she did, he rewarded her with a slow, deliberate renewal of his thrusts. Sookie whimpered her thanks, locking her forearms around his neck. He nodded. "Yes," he conceded finally. "You have my heart, lover. You _are_ my heart."

Sookie inhaled sharply, kissing him hard and fast before turning her head to the side, baring herself to him.

"I love you."

Eric hissed in triumph and bit down. Sookie climaxed in his arms, strangling him with her supple limbs as she rode wave after wave of blinding pleasure. He pumped hard twice more, jetting inside of her, growling against her throat as he took his release and his nourishment from his mate.

"Mine," he mutter wetly, his fangs, arms and cock refusing to let go.

Sookie cinched herself tighter around him, letting her head fall into the perfect spot on his shoulder, no longer able to deny that she'd fed Eric from the very beginning for all the reasons he'd described.

She put her lips to his ear and whispered. "And mine."


End file.
